Germany‘s Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that unvaccinated people will be excluded from large parts of public life. Merkel described the far-reaching measures as an act of “national solidarity”. Unvaccinated people will not have access to various cultural and leisure venues, such as restaurants and bars. The protocols are already in place in several German regions with the highest cases.
Moreover, the parliament will consider imposing a general vaccine mandate. For the moment, the month of February is the target. The move comes as the country is up against a heavy fourth wave of the pandemic. Germany saw more than 70,000 cases reported in 24 hours last week, the highest figures recorded to date.
Merkel said hospitals could not take more. In fact, patients had to be moved to different areas for treatment. She said officials agreed to require masks in schools, impose new limits on private meetings and aim for 30 million vaccinations by the end of the year.
Even though vaccination numbers continue to grow in Germany, barely 70% of the population received one dose. Obviously, it is a relatively low rate for Western Europe.
There is also the fear of the new variant. For now, there are only 10 cases associated with the Omicron variant, according to the EU’s European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Most cases came from African countries. The ECDC does not cover the UK.
Last week, Berlin announced that it will ban dancing in nightclubs. The new regulations specifically target large events and venues. One thing is for sure, the future does not look bright for Germany’s music fans.
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