Most Germans will be “vaccinated, cured or dead” from COVID-19 in a few months, Health Minister Jens Spahn warned on Monday as he urged more citizens to respond.
“Perhaps by the end of this winter, as it is sometimes cynically called, pretty much everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, cured or dead,” Spahn said, blaming the “very contagious delta variant”. .
“This is why we recommend immediate vaccination,” he said.
The dire warning comes as Germany rushes to prevent a record rise in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, sounding the alarm about an overflow of intensive care units in hospitals.
Despite widespread access to free coronavirus vaccines, just 68 percent of the German population is fully vaccinated, a level experts say is too low to keep the pandemic under control.
Germany, the EU’s most populous country, added another 30,643 cases on Monday, according to the Robert Koch Institute health agency, bringing the total to more than 5.3 million since the start of the pandemic.
Nearly 100,000 people have died so far, including 62 in the last 24 hours.
“We have a very difficult situation in many hospitals,” Spahn said.
Germany last week announced tougher coronavirus restrictions to stem a brutal fourth Covid wave.
In areas with high hospitalization rates, public places such as cinemas, gyms and indoor dining will be banned from unconnected people.
Employees are asked to return to work from home whenever possible, while anyone going into the workplace must prove that they have been vaccinated, cured or recently tested negative is – a system known as “3G”.
The same rule applies to public transport in those areas.
Many of Germany’s hardest-hit regions, including Bavaria and Saxony, have gone even further by canceling large events such as Christmas markets and effectively barring non-essential public life.
All vaccinated adults have also been urged to receive a booster shot after six months to counteract the vaccine’s effectiveness.
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