DIE Armed forces Contrary to earlier plans, in view of the rapid increase in corona disease, as many as 10,000 soldiers were once again placed on alert to help places where civilian troops are no longer sufficient. This means that the alert level has reached the level at the peak of the infection process last winter. At the same time, the number of infections within the army is also increasing. According to the Bundeswehr, about 800 soldiers were infected with Covid-19 over the weekend. This is equivalent to an increase of 100% in two weeks.
As a reason for many cases, the Ministry of National Defense pointed out that, among other things, close practical cooperation has been carried out in many fields. As reported by the online portal “Augen straigeaus”, vaccination rates can present major difficulties. Therefore, about a quarter of the Bundeswehr members are not vaccinated. No exact figures will be released. The political and military leadership of the House of Representatives has tried to vaccinate all men and women in the armed forces with a comprehensive and mandatory vaccination, but it has so far failed.
The “duty of tolerance” for corona vaccination?
For missions abroad, such as in Mali, all soldiers must be vaccinated. Likewise, for equal commitments, such as in naval missions or NATO in Lithuania. However, in practice, major gaps have also been discovered recently. As far as the domestic market is concerned, soldiers vaccinated with certain vaccines have a “duty of tolerance” when vaccinated. However, this does not currently apply to vaccination against corona. It is said that negotiations between the Ministry and staff representatives have been going on for several months, with the aim of including corona vaccination in the scope of mandatory basic vaccination. However, no results have been achieved so far.
What are the actions of the Bundeswehr against Corona Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 8,500 cases have been approved, in which soldiers have helped with contact follow-up, at home or vaccination activities. According to current figures, 74 orders for approximately 650 soldiers are in progress. Most of the women and men deployed in the Bundeswehr help track contacts of infected persons. The armed forces bases are expected to show stronger growth. According to the Ministry’s spokesperson, Major General Carsten Brewer, commander of the Bundeswehr’s Territorial Mission Command, “instructed only fully vaccinated soldiers for administrative assistance.”
Current principal Angela Merkel (CDU) also called for speeding up the pace of intensified vaccination and quickly establishing a hospitalization limit, beyond which severe measures must be taken. In her weekly podcast, Merkel said that this threshold must be “chosen wisely, lest it is too late to take the necessary measures”.
For F+’s birthday, you only need to pay 3 Euros a month to read all articles on FAZ.NET.
At the same time, three Green Party health ministers criticized the expiration of the nationwide corona exemption program. In a joint statement, Kai Klose (Hesse), Ursula Nonnemacher (Brandenburg) and Manne Lucha (Baden-Württemberg) wrote: “In view of the current infection dynamics and the burden of hospitals, In some areas, the burden of hospitals is close to absolute overload, which should be an important national epidemic.”Prime Minister of Saxony Michael Krechmer (The CDU) warned that the death rate would hit a new high, and predicted that the necessary restrictions will continue until Easter next year. The politician told Bild: “We have just begun the severe winter-the wave before us will overwhelm all previous waves.”
In the federal state of Kretschmer, the number of local infections has risen to 1,200, which is 12 times that of Schleswig-Holstein or 10 times the average of Lower Saxony. At the same time, the vaccination rate in Saxony is particularly low. With the exception of Saxony, Bavaria has the largest number of new cases so far. The regions of Rottal-Inn (incidence rate of 1198) and Saxon Switzerland (incidence rate of 1153) have set record highs nationwide.
Prime Minister Krechmer did not delve into the low vaccination rate in Saxony, and blamed the situation on the traffic light government that has not yet been established: “The guilty hesitation and irresponsible remarks about the traffic lights have already had consequences.” Kreich Mo said before: “This fourth wave will require more victims than we knew before, including more deaths.” It must persist until Easter. “This wave will not end before this.”
