German Minister of Health: The coronavirus pandemic is not over yet
The coronavirus pandemic is not over yet, the German Minister of Health warned, while the highest court of that country approved the rules which require health workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Minister Karl Lauterbach noted a significant increase in the number of those infected in some Asian countries, such as North Korea, but also in parts of Europe.
“In Germany, too, an average of 130 to 150 people die every day from a pandemic. So the view that the pandemic was defeated is wrong,” Lauterbach told reporters in Berlin.
Lauterbach is holding a two-day meeting with colleagues from the Group of Seven industrial forces on Thursday and Friday.
U.S. Secretary of Health Xavier Becerra was supposed to attend the meeting in person, but was tested positive for coronavirus in Berlin on Wednesday – the day before the announced meeting with Lauterbach and other prominent figures in Germany’s response to the pandemic. Becerra plans to attend the meeting via video link, officials said.
The German Federal Court announced on Thursday that it rejected the appeals against the obligatory vaccinations of health workers, stating that the importance of protecting vulnerable categories of people in hospitals and nursing homes outweighs the complaints about any violations of employees’ rights.
Lauterbach welcomed the verdict, saying that “the state is obliged to protect vulnerable groups”. He thanked the health institutions that perform their duties, claiming that they helped prevent a larger number of deaths from the omicron variant of the virus, reports AP.
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