The British have shown the way: Since “Freedom Day” on July 19, there have been virtually no corona restrictions there. Will all of the measures soon be taken down by us too?
So far, this has been considered unthinkable, Health Minister Jens Spahn (41, CDU) spoke this month of the fact that we now have to “hold out again until spring”. Now the turning point: The Minister of Health speaks of a “Freedom Day”!
On Saturday afternoon, Spahn answered questions from representatives of the culture and events industry in the “Ritter Butzke”, a Berlin nightclub. The club operators and concert organizers asked the minister to provide prospects for their industry.
Spahn countered the demands that he could not name a date on which clubs and pubs can again receive guests without restrictions. “But I can give you a yardstick: the yardstick is vaccination,” the minister said, adding a vaccination rate of 80 percent.
When asked whether he could remove all restrictions for the club scene with a vaccination rate of 80 percent and whether there could be a kind of “Freedom Day” like in Great Britain, Spahn said: “Yes, I would then go this way.” A prerequisite according to Spahn : There should be no new variant that unexpectedly changes the infection process. The 80 percent target can be achieved “if we re-ignite the vaccination turbo in September”.
It seems unrealistic that the vaccination threshold of 80 percent will actually be exceeded in autumn: the rate of vaccinations in Germany has been falling for months and is currently at the lowest level since March. According to the RKI, the rate of first vaccinations is currently less than 65 percent.
“I’m angry to the limit”
Spahn received applause for his answer to the “Freedom Day” question. But otherwise the mood during the panel discussion was partly heated. “I’m angry to the limit,” rumbled Marcus Pohl, chairman of the event industry interest group. His association tried to contact the Ministry of Health, but was ignored.
Pohl zu Spahn: “You don’t know how the event industry works.”
Jens Michow had previously demanded uniform rules for cultural events throughout Germany from the Federal Association of the Event Industry. For the Bundesliga, there has been one since the beginning of the pandemic.
Spahn replied: “For the Bundesliga it makes sense that the rules are the same in all countries.” Contradiction from the audience: “They don’t even know how to tour – even through different federal states. Is football more important than music? “
At the end of the discussion, moderator and CDU Bundestag candidate Kevin Kratzsch (39) presented the Minister of Health with a gift: a voucher for a club tour through Berlin. When can Spahn redeem it? Uncertain …
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