TV Criticism
“Anne Will” is back from the winter break and again there is only one topic: Corona. The hostess wanted to know how Germany wants to go into the third year of the pandemic. There were hardly any useful answers, but the questions piled up.
By Arian Yazdani Kohneschahry
Last Friday, a new record was set in Germany with more than 140,000 new corona infections within 24 hours. The highly contagious virus variant Omicron arrived here long ago. But that’s not all: Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) expects an even more dramatic increase in the number of cases. In February, there could be several hundred thousand new infections every day. The promise made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to introduce compulsory vaccinations in February or March is more than clearly shaky. In view of this, the studio guests at “Anne Will” discussed the question: “Omicron wave there, vaccination not mandatory – what plan is Germany going into the third year of Corona?”.
Visiting Anne Will:
Marco Buschmann (FDP, Federal Minister of Justice)
Hendrik Wust (CDU, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia)
Alena Buyx (Chairwoman of the German Ethics Council and Professor of Medical Ethics)
Uwe Janssens (Chief Physician for Internal Medicine and Internal Intensive Care Medicine)
Helene Bubrowski (Correspondent for the “FAZ” parliamentary editorial office)
The good news first: There are also corona talks without Karl Lauterbach. The likeness of the Federal Minister of Health lit up on the screens in the studio right at the beginning of the show, but that was about it. Marco Buschmann was there as the representative of the federal government. The Federal Minister of Justice never tired of mentioning that the traffic light government was doing many things “objectively measurably better” and spoke of the “most successful booster campaign in Europe”. Buschmann did not want to say any big words about his party friend Wolfgang Kubicki, who had recently taken a clear stand against compulsory vaccination.
Buschmann was not able to present a clear plan on how the country wants to go into the third year of Corona on “Anne Will”. Should the situation improve, measures could be adjusted. This also applies in the event that the pandemic situation should deteriorate. “That’s common sense,” said the FDP politician.
“We are entering a new shaky phase”
The panel discussion was characterized by vague answers including empty phrases. NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst would like to give people their freedom back as quickly as possible, but also added the subordinate clause “if it is possible”. If Wüst knew when it would be possible again, he would also like to say so. Well, after these statements you are no smarter than before.
Ethics Council Chairwoman Alena Buyx made it clear: “We are entering a new, shaky phase.” The Ethics Council had already issued a recommendation on December 22 in which it advocated compulsory vaccination. Buyx emphasized that mandatory vaccination is an “extreme intervention” and that it must be very well justified. A compulsory vaccination must serve high-ranking goals.
Apart from that, the Chair of the Ethics Council also criticized the implementation of the vaccination campaign to date. Much more vaccination offers, better advice and education are necessary. In some regions of Germany it is still too difficult to get a vaccination appointment at all.
The journalist Helene Bubrowski also pointed out that more “low-threshold offers” were needed. This would probably make it easier to reach some people who were unwilling to be vaccinated than through an obligation. Conspiracy theorists and corona deniers, on the other hand, cannot be persuaded to spake even through the obligation to vaccinate, because they also have the opportunity to get a fake vaccination card or possibly pay a fine. Bubrowski also raised legal concerns. She fears that compulsory vaccination could be the next promise by the federal government that ultimately cannot be kept.
Many questions, few answers at Anne Will
The question now is not only whether compulsory vaccination should be introduced, but also in what form. SPD parliamentary group leader Dirk Wiese has prepared cornerstones for this with MPs from the traffic light coalition. Accordingly, there should be an obligation for three vaccinations, which should apply for one to two years. Failure to comply would result in fines. Minister of Justice Buschmann, on the other hand, brought up another model in the discussion round. He personally advocates compulsory vaccination from the age of 50, since the unvaccinated in this age group are the greatest burden on the health system.
Wust has a different opinion. However, he could not really justify his opinion. The chairman of the Prime Ministers’ Conference called for compulsory vaccination from the age of 18, “because people between 18 and 50 are a large group of the population.”
And then there is the question of how the obligation to vaccinate without a vaccination register should be controlled at all. Uwe Janssens warned that this task should not be imposed on the municipalities or the health authorities. “The municipalities are already at the end,” said the doctor. He suggested involving the health insurance companies instead. However, he is more concerned about the implementation of the occupational vaccination requirement, according to Janssens. He still does not know what will happen in March to the employees in the clinics who are not vaccinated at that time and vented his anger to the Federal Minister of Justice.
The talk round finally ended with an unsatisfactory result, because there was simply no result. Many questions, few answers – that was probably also due to the hostess herself. Anne Will presented herself astonishingly passive and almost looked like a toothless tiger. Too often, Will let her guests brush her off. The hope remains that the upcoming prime ministers’ conference will bring a little more clarity about how the country intends to free itself from the corona crisis.
Source From: Stern
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