Operation Transformation: In the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, which has now lasted almost two years, Germany is experiencing significant changes: Karl Lauterbach has taken over the Ministry of Health from Jens Spahn, Omikron is replacing Delta and the booster is becoming the new standard weapon. And then there are the so-called Corona wise men.
This Federal Government’s Expert Council will meet for the first time on Tuesday lunchtime – only virtually, but no less knowledgeable. The virologist Christian Drosten, the President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Lothar Wieler, and the head of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), Thomas Mertens, are just three of the 19 experts on the committee.
Among other things, you are responsible for assessing whether people with a booster vaccination should be exempt from the obligation to test in the future. Specifically: Anyone who has used a booster can do without a Covid-19 test on 2G-plus events. According to media reports, Lauterbach’s ministry drafted a corresponding draft law on the occasion of the current conference of health ministers (GMK).
At its debut, the Expert Council will discuss this paper sufficiently. The committee is an elementary part of Lauterbach’s pandemic strategy. “The greater involvement of science will shape my work. The exchange with my former colleagues will be the basis of my crisis management and the entire federal government, ”said the new minister recently to the“ Rheinische Post ”.
Exactly that exchange is urgently needed, not least because of a society struggling for orientation in the middle of the fourth wave of infections. This longs for reliable forecasts and clear, comprehensible decisions – nationwide if possible.
These wishes could already be fulfilled in the run-up to Christmas, because after the premiere of the Expert Council, the federal and state health ministers will discuss major adjustments to the pandemic strategy. The new Omikron mutant commands this.
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A major point of contention in the Expert Council and at the GMK is how the vaccination campaign is handled. The quotas still fall short of the scientifically and politically required targets, and the findings on mutation so far do not bode well on top of that.
Lauterbach also took part for the first time at yesterday’s GMK start. At this point, however, it had long been clear which short-term goal the new health minister was pursuing in addition to an ambitious increase in general vaccination numbers: the abolition of the compulsory test for boosted patients. “The vaccination is only complete if you have been vaccinated three times,” Lauterbach said last Wednesday. Later, the SPD politician explicitly spoke out on TV for an end to mandatory testing – as an incentive for those who hesitate. Because a booster vaccination is not yet mandatory.
Tests with boosted patients are not useful, but the booster vaccination does – according to Lauterbach’s argument. With a view to the pragmatic argument that a third vaccine dose is more effective against severe Covid 19 diseases, several experts welcomed the proposal – including the virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit and the Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU), who heads the GMK.
Criticism of the booster loosening course
The concept is not new, after all, Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia and Saarland are already running this route. So far, the data situation is still too thin to be able to draw any conclusions about possible improvements in the pandemic situation – particularly with regard to Omikron – or the test capacities. Because of these same imponderables, there is also criticism of the planned booster relaxation course.
German medical officers warn, for example, that such thoughts are premature. It is “wiser to wait and see how the pandemic develops in the coming weeks,” said the chairwoman of the Federal Association of Doctors in the Public Health Service, Ute Teichert, to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
There is also criticism from the German Foundation for Patient Protection. With regard to the Omikron variant, “the health ministers must not decide to relax,” said board member Eugen Brysch to the Funke newspapers. Political Christmas gifts would be punished in January. “The same mistake was made last year,” said Brysch.
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But who is considered fully vaccinated anyway? The heads of state departments must also give some thought to this. A tightening of the requirements is possible in order to get more people to boost. Specifically, this could be done by shortening the vaccination intervals. Anyone who is too far apart between the second and third dose risks expiry of their vaccination certificate.
The Stiko still recommends a booster vaccination every six months after the last vaccination dose. However, there is no best-before date for the status of fully vaccinated.
The further definition of a test exemption should also cause discussions. Of the countries that already apply this rule for boosted patients, Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia also offer this for certain second vaccinated persons (second dose less than six months old) and for certain convalescents (infection no longer than six months ago). It is quite possible that these special regulations will now fall.
The last general pandemic political steps through the end of the year must also be debated. “In order to be able to make political decisions, we will discuss, among other things, how dangerous the new Omikron variant is, how much boosters help and how we can continue to break the current wave,” Lauterbach announced to the GMK. This depends in particular on the input of the “Corona wise men” – there is still the option of tightened pandemic restrictions over the Christmas holidays.
