German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that the EU country faced ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’. More than 90 percent of intensive care (ICU) patients in Germany with coronavirus are not vaccinated, The Local Germany has learned.
The top medical official called on people to get their shots to avoid the new wave of the COVID-19. “Right now, we’re seeing a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Spahn told Welt on Wednesday and added that the vaccine doses are there to get us safely through autumn and winter.
To avoid becoming overrun in the autumn and winter months, the health ministry should do its best to vaccinate 100 percent of residents. Spahn urged people eligible for the immunization to get their jabs as soon as possible.
Over a couple of weeks, the inoculation pace in Germany has plateaued, raising concerns that the country won’t be able to get through the cooler months unscathed.
Germany’s vaccinations slow
As of Aug 24, just over 64 percent of people in Germany have received at least one jab and 59.2 percent are fully vaccinated. These figures mean that the EU country’s health system could be “very heavy workload” like last winter.
In his recent statement, the health minister reiterated that there would be no strict lockdown restrictions imposed on people who are vaccinated.
“For vaccinated and recovered people, there will be no further restrictions,” said Spahn. “No curfews, no contact restrictions, no closures,” he said and added that vaccination brings Germany back to freedom. “That’s the real message now for autumn and winter.”
On Monday, German states brought in uniform rules for a ‘Covid health pass’ system restricting access to most public indoor spaces to those who are fully vaccinated, have recovered from corona or to those who have tested negatively for the pathogen.
