German Chief of Staff suggests that cases will rice further unless more people get vaccinated
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Chief of Staff – Halge Braun today, i.e., Sunday, July 25, 2021 warned that number of cases could rise to 100,000 a day in about 2 months.
He suggested the problem will not resolve unless more and more get vaccinated and those who refuse are asked to face restrictions.
His remarks came after Germany started witnessing a surge in the number of daily cases, following a steady decline of 2 months. The cases are increasing by 60% every week despite more and more people getting vaccinated.
Speaking on the occasion, Braun said, “If the Delta variant were to continue to spread at this rate and we don’t counter it with a very high vaccination rate or change in behaviour, we would have an incidence of 850 (per 100,000 people) in just nine weeks.”
He further added, “Roughly 60% of Germany’s 83 million people have had a first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine and about 48% are fully vaccinated. Merkel has long said there will be no compulsory vaccination.”
Prior to this, Merkel had said that Germany will not force its people to get vaccinated. But Braun added that such people may be subject to restrictions while visiting restaurants, cinemas and stadiums. At the same time, he also ruled out the possibility of a complete lockdown.
Braun’s remarks were taken with resistance by several German politicians including the Party Leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany – Armin Laschet, who is likely to be the next chancellor of Germany once Merkel steps down on September 26, 2021.
Reacting to Braun’s remarks, Laschet said, “I don’t think much of compulsory vaccinations or indirectly putting pressure on people. We have had a rule that you must be tested, vaccinated or recovered and I think that is a good principle.”
As per the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, Germany reported 1,387 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 3.76 million and casualties to 91,524. The seven-day incidence rate inched up to 13.8% 100,000 people.
Separately, Italy has also announced to impose restrictions on unvaccinated people including dining indoors. In the United Kingdom (U.K.), vaccine certificates could be required at business conferences, music festivals and sports events in England from September 2021. France has also made health pass and vaccination compulsory for front line workers. However, this has recovered country wide resistance.
