COVID-19: German citizens will be 'vaccinated, recovered or dead', Health Minister warns

Amid the rapid surge in COVID-19 cases in Germany, the health minister of the nation has recently delivered his most stern warning on the necessity of vaccinations. During a press conference in Berlin on Monday, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, “By the end of this winter everyone in Germany will either be vaccinated, recovered or dead," and urged the citizens to get the coronavirus vaccination as soon as possible to avoid the transmission of the disease, BBC reported.  

During the past few weeks, the fourth COVID wave in Europe has struck Germany badly, with the number of cases constantly increasing. Many hospitals in the nation are already at capacity. As per AP, hospitals have further warned that ICU capacities are nearing full, with some patients being relocated to far-flung health care clinics. 

Germany records over 30,000 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours

A total of 45,183 new COVID-19 cases were reported in 24 hours on November 20th in Germany. The country is seeing a seven day average of well over 45,000 cases. In the country, only 68% of individuals are completely vaccinated- one of the lowest in Western Europe, as per BBC.  

Witnessing a rapid spike in COVID-19 infections in the country, the German health minister advised citizens to be vaccinated, even with booster doses if their last round of vaccination was more than six months ago to lessen the danger of severe illness, “With the highly contagious delta variant this is very, very likely and that's why we are recommending vaccination so urgently,” Spahn said, AP reported. Spahn even added that he has opposed making COVID vaccinations mandatory, but it has become a "moral obligation" to acquire the vaccine since it affects others. 

Virologist refutes Health Minister's 'vaccinated, recovered or dead' remark

Meanwhile, during an interview with DW, Hendrik Streeck, a professor and head of the University of Bonn's Institute of Virology stated that he does not agree with Health Minister Spahn's pessimistic view of the pandemic's trajectory in Germany. He went in to say that Spahn's prediction does not represent how the virus spreads or how long the COVID-19 outbreak will endure. 

"While I agree that the situation is serious right now ... I don't agree with the sentence that every one after this fall or winter 'will be either vaccinated, recovered or dead,' because that would mean that everyone will get in touch with the virus this winter," Streeck told DW.  

Yet, on the other hand, Hendrik Streeck agreed with the health minister and stated that the COVID vaccines are an essential line of defence during the fight against the deadly virus. He did, however, disagree with Spahn's prediction that the epidemic will be gone by spring 2022. 

Furthermore, over 99,000 individuals have died in Germany since the outbreak began, and more than 5.4 million people have been infected with COVID-19. 

(Image: AP/Pixabay)