German Finance Minister: To Do Everything Possible to Further Accelerate Vaccination
16 April 2021
By David Barwick – Frankfurt (Econostream) – German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Friday said that Germany would do everything possible to further accelerate the pace of vaccination.In remarks made on the occasion of a virtual Eurogroup meeting, Scholz said that widespread vaccination would hopefully soon make a return to normality possible, while giving ‘a decisive boost to the economic recovery.’
Vaccination campaigns in Germany and throughout Europe are ramping up and will be further accelerated in the next weeks, he said.
‘We in the federal government will do everything we can to further accelerate the pace of vaccination and to ensure that everyone who wants it receives a vaccination as soon as possible’, he said.
Scholz described as ‘very serious’ the current public health situation. ‘The infection figures are still very, very high and they have to come down’, he said. ‘Our intensive care units must not be overloaded. We must do everything we can to break the third wave. It is fair to say that we still have a difficult, dramatic development.’
As politicians are called on to act, Scholz urged that Germany ‘quickly introduce and consistently apply a nationwide emergency brake, limit contacts, work even more from the home office and also test more intensively at the workplace.’
He welcomed the beginning debate on the amendment to Germany’s Infection Protection Act.
‘If we all pull together, we will get the infection figures down and can then discuss opening steps again’, he said. ‘We are in a final spurt, but it is still going on. And of course the last metres always feel particularly exhausting. But I think it's worth it so that we can have a summer where we realise that we are leaving the pandemic behind us - gradually.’