And things are still getting serious for Karl Lauerbach. For the RKI, the Robert Koch Institute, anyway. What supposedly began as a farce, namely the reduction of the validity of the convalescent status from six to three months, is growing into a challenge: for the leadership ability of the health minister.
Because a report by the scientific service in the Bundestag, which is available to the Tagesspiegel, raises serious doubts as to whether the process “satisfies constitutional standards”.
The new regulation refers to the website of the RKI; Information and decision as to how long the recovered status is valid, at the click of a mouse?
Doubts about the jurisdiction of the RKI
That doesn’t do justice to the importance, say the experts in the Bundestag. The question of who is considered vaccinated or recovered for how long is “of great relevance for the exercise of fundamental rights”. The “rule on proof of immunity” forms “the basis for the question of whether the fundamental rights of the person concerned may be restricted by the corona measures or whether an exception can apply due to the immunization”.
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Even more: The scientific service complains that the federal government “no longer regulates essential aspects of the regulation for proof of recovery, but leaves this to another body, namely the RKI”. This also displeases the lawyers in the Bundestag.
And now: Will it be approved? played down. Presented as a misunderstanding? None of that would wear. After all, it is still unclear how the RKI came to this decision in the first place, whether on its own or on instructions. Minister Lauterbach does not want to have known anything beforehand. In addition, the European decision – six months of convalescent status – was taken with a German vote. In any case, this is difficult to explain.
Is Scholz behind Lauterbach’s course?
In general, the public perception of both the RKI and Lauterbach is changing. His predictions about Omicron are increasingly being thwarted by the demonstrative composure of the Chancellor, his party colleague Olaf Scholz.
He is feeding the impression in coalition circles that he is not fully behind Lauterbach’s course, but is behaving as if he hadn’t gotten past his appointment. That can still get serious – just not in the government now. The coalition, which is already under national and international pressure, cannot tolerate an early change in personnel. With the ministers. In subordinate positions more so.
