As Austria enters a nationwide lockdown once again and makes vaccinations mandatory from February, parts of Europe are also experiencing a fourth wave of COVID-19 panic. While cases are increasing rapidly in the Netherlands, there is a partial curfew. The situation is also clear after the statements made by the German Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, recently.
“Probably by the end of winter, almost everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, healed, or die,” Spahn said at a press conference, adding: “It sounds cynical, but it’s the truth.”
Spahn uttered these phrases as Germany is currently experiencing rapid spread with the Delta variant, a highly contagious mutation of SARS-CoV-2. Also, the minister does not seem to be the only one with these fears. Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose tenure is about to end, as The Guardian noted, told leaders of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany that the country was in “an extremely dramatic situation” and that “the decisions currently available are not sufficient”.
To contain the spread of COVID-19, unvaccinated persons are prohibited from entering non-essential public places in Germany. Bavaria and Saxony are among the worst-affected regions, and authorities have responded by closing clubs and canceling open markets.
More than 70 percent of the country is currently vaccinated, with Germany’s leaders working on a law that would make vaccinations mandatory for healthcare workers and people helping the elderly. One of the current concerns seems to be a waste of vaccines in the country as residents reject Moderna in favor of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.
Spahn is among those who say that doctors should consume the existing stocks before they expire. This can be said to be particularly troubling for low-income countries that have yet to receive even the first dose of COVID vaccines. Some of the poorest countries are not expected to gain broad access to any COVID vaccines until 2023.
An immunization race seems to be underway in Germany to prevent a fourth wave comparable to the 2020 winter epidemic, as infection levels not seen since the outbreak began have recently been recorded. It is not yet clear whether the country will have to make the decision to impose more curfew measures like the Netherlands and Austria.
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