2024-07-24 11:46:21
Criticism of “pandemic of the unvaccinated”
RKI protocols published completely unredacted
Updated on 24.07.2024 – 09:22Reading time: 3 min.
New discussions are sparking about previously unpublished RKI protocols. In particular, an assessment of the statement about the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” is being criticized.
On November 3, 2021, the then Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn coined the term “pandemic of the unvaccinated”. He said at the time: “Above all, we are currently experiencing a pandemic of the unvaccinated – and it is massive.” This expression was subsequently taken up by other politicians and in the media. Now this very phrase is causing a lot of outrage online due to the RKI protocols published on Tuesday.
The so-called RKI files are intended to include all meeting minutes of the Covid-19 crisis team during the corona pandemic between 2020 and 2023. They were presented by Berlin journalist Aya Velàzquez at a press conference on Tuesday and then uploaded online.
On X, she wrote that the data had been made available to her by a “whistleblower,” a former employee of the RKI. She also called for an “uncompromising and honest review” of the Corona policy in Germany. The de-redacted protocols should contribute to this. Velàzquez had already criticized the measures taken during the Corona pandemic in the past.
Criticism of the formulation “pandemic of the unvaccinated”
In a protocol from November 5, under the topic of “Science Communication”, it says: “The media is talking about a pandemic of the unvaccinated. From a technical point of view, this is incorrect. The entire population is contributing. Should this be taken up in communication?”
In addition, the minutes point out that the minister (presumably Jens Spahn) speaks of a pandemic of the unvaccinated at every press conference and that this “cannot really” be corrected. However, the minutes also state that this statement should serve as an appeal to everyone “who is not vaccinated to get vaccinated”.
The criticism in social networks is directed against the media and politicians, who are accused of spreading the theory of a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” despite knowing better. The protocol fragment is being shared intensively, especially in circles that oppose the corona vaccination.
Virologist Martin Stürmer points out in the “Tagesschau”: “The phrase ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’ is somewhat exaggerated because it suggests that only unvaccinated people are infected. Vaccinated people have also been infected again and again. Of course not to the same extent as unvaccinated people, but it has of course created the false impression that the unvaccinated are the absolute drivers of the pandemic.”
For reference: According to data from the RKI in November 2021, 67 percent of the population was fully vaccinated and more than two million people had received a booster vaccination. Nevertheless, the number of infections has been rising steadily since September 2021.
Despite controversial opinions on the formulation of a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”, Stürmer emphasizes: “Without the vaccinations, however, we would not have gotten out of the pandemic so quickly.”
The Robert Koch Institute has criticized the publication of unredacted protocols of the RKI crisis team on the corona pandemic. “The RKI expressly disapproves of the fact that personal data and trade and business secrets of third parties are published unlawfully in these data sets and in particular the rights of third parties are violated,” the institute said. The RKI has neither checked nor verified the data sets, it said.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach also spoke out on the subject. In response to the publication, he wrote on X that the RKI had planned to publish the protocols with his consent anyway. “Now it is happening without the rights of third parties, including employees, having been protected beforehand. There is still nothing to hide,” said the SPD politician.
In May, the RKI had already published the protocols for the period January 2020 to April 2021 largely without any redactions. Certain personal data as well as third-party trade and business secrets remained redacted. The trigger was a previous publication of the protocols by the online magazine “Multipolar”, which critics have associated with conspiracy-theoretical publications. The fact that numerous passages were redacted at the time sparked a debate about the independence of the RKI.