From Monday, unvaccinated persons in Berlin will be unable to enter restaurants, bars, cinemas, and other entertainment venues. The city is grappling with its largest number of Covid-19 infections to date.
On Thursday, health officials reported 50,196 new cases for the fourth day in a row, continuing to smash Germany’s previous record for new infections.
From next week, people who haven’t been fully vaccinated will be barred from a number of entertainment venues in Berlin, according to the city’s Senate on Wednesday. The “2G” rules, which prohibit persons without two vaccinations from entry, have now been expanded.
Adults who haven’t been vaccinated will be banned from attending certain outdoor gatherings with more than 2,000 people.
The decision follows an increase in rhetoric against unvaccinated people by national health authorities in Germany, where the vaccination campaign has fallen behind several European neighbors to the west.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a video message published on the country’s government website late Wednesday, stated that “in Germany, I must say unfortunately that our vaccination rate isn’t high enough to prevent the virus from spreading quickly,” and called for national leadership to increase vaccine coverage.
Germany has vaccinated over three-quarters of the country’s population, leaving one-third unvaccinated.
Since the beginning of December, illnesses have increased dramatically; on Thursday, the country’s seven-day incidence rate was 249.1 per 100,000 people, compared to 154.5 a week ago.
Despite the fact that hospitalizations and deaths have decreased to a much lesser extent than during previous peaks, there is growing anxiety about vaccination coverage as it shifts into the winter months.
During a “alarming” increase in cases, the German government has provided booster vaccinations to everyone.
Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn declared that the nation is experiencing a “dramatic” outbreak of the non-vaccinated, suggesting that the government is now targeting those who have not been vaccinated to join the program.
Chancellor Merkel also issued a call for a meeting of the country’s 16 federal state premiers “as soon as possible” to guarantee “harmonious” decisions at the national level. Germany’s federal state premiers are primarily in charge of imposing and removing limitations, but the country’s new parliament is discussing whether to transfer coronavirus preparation measures from the national level to the regional level this Thursday.
After determining that people under age 30 receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 immunization, Germany’s vaccine commission recommended that they be solely vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 shot. Moderna was discovered to cause heart inflammation in younger persons who received it rather than Pfizer, prompting the recommendation.
The immunization advice published by STIKO on Wednesday applied to both initial vaccinations and any potential boosters. “Further immunizations should be given with Comirnaty, even if another vaccine has previously been used,” the organization added.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login