Germany focuses anti-Covid strategy on non-vaccinated

Berlin, Aug 11 (EFE).- Germany starting Wednesday will focus its strategy to fight the pandemic on the non-vaccinated population as the inoculation campaign slows down and infections soar.

“The fully vaccinated and recovered (from the disease) hardly contribute to the evolution of the pandemic and do not have to live with some restrictions,” the government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said at a presser.

A series of measures are to come into force over the upcoming days to encourage people to get inoculated and impose restrictions on non-vaccinated people.

Among these measures are that the government stops paying for the coronavirus tests for the non-vaccinated people from 11 October, except for those under 18 and people with health conditions.

The measure is coupled with a decision to request antigen tests for all indoor activities.

“Currently, there are sufficient doses of safe and effective vaccines. Anyone who wants to can get vaccinated now,” Seibert said.

Sporting venues with more than 5,000 seats are to work at 50 percent capacity, with a maximum of 25,000 spectators.

The infection rates have been increasing for a month albeit from “very low values”, Seibert said, warning that the vaccination campaign has recently declined.

Initiatives to encourage people to get vaccinated are growing in the country, including the vaccination nights held in Berlin and Hamburg in which hundreds of young people participated.

The German government aims to fully vaccinate 90 percent of people over 60 and 75 percent of the population, compared to 80 percent and 55 percent who have been administered the full course respectively.

The Robert Koch Institute announced on Wednesday that 4,996 cases and 14 deaths have been detected over the past 24 hours, for a total of 3,799,425 infections and 91,817 fatalities.

Some 62.7 percent of the population had been administered at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the health ministry. EFE

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