In Germany, the government is trying to speed up the ongoing Corona vaccination campaign. Several suggestions are on the table. The idea of cash incentives was already declined by the government.
Berlin, July 14th, 2021 (The Berlin Spectator) — In Germany, the Delta variant of the Coronavirus is increasing the number of infections. On Wednesday morning, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin reported 1,548 new cases within the past 24 hours. Last Wednesday, the number had been below 1,000. The Seven Day Incidence, which shows how many people were infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days, increased to 7.1. It had been below 5 a week ago. Things do not look too good in some federal states. In the city state of Berlin, the Incidence has reached 9.2.
Merkel at RKI
The federal government intends to speed up the vaccination campaign. So far, 82.4 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Germany. At this stage, 58.7 percent of all residents got at least one of two required shots, while 43 percent already received two of them. But the vaccination rate has to increase substantially in order to make sure aggressive Coronavirus mutations can be coped with. This was one of the points Angela Merkel made when she visited the RKI on Tuesday.
She urged people to get vaccinated. The Chancellor told them an immunization would not only protect themselves, but also persons who were close to them and whom they loved. “The more people are vaccinated, the more freely we can live”, Mrs. Merkel said. “My request to everyone: Talk to each other about vaccinations, because we need each other.”
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In Berlin, a big discussion about ways to accelerate the vaccination campaign is in full swing. Dietmar Bartsch, the floor leader for the far-left party ‘Die Linke’ at the Berlin Bundestag told the ‘Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung’ daily, ads for vaccinations should be placed in the media, including on TV. For the German Association of Cities and Towns, its President Burkhard Jung came up with a similar demand in an interview with the ‘Funke Mediengruppe’. “We have to try to reach people who are reluctant in regard to vaccinations by using all channels”, he stated.
Financial incentives are being discussed as well. Commerce Minister Peter Altmaier rejected this idea. He told the ‘Augsburger Allgemeine’ daily, making responsible citizens do something they were not convinced about with cash rewards was not the right way. Altmaier said there were other steps that could be taken, including sending out mobile vaccination teams and the use of vaccine which required one shot only.
Less Vaccinations Administered
On Monday, some 448,000 vaccinations were administered in Germany. In the past two weeks, the number of Corona shots people got was low compared to the weeks before. Until early July, more than one million people had been vaccinated on some days of the week. This is not the case anymore. Last week’s record was set on Wednesday, when 980,523 persons were immunized.
All relevant Corona numbers for Germany, and daily Corona updates, can be found in our Corona chronology.
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