Germany has for the first time exceeded the thousand dead days …

Germany hits year-end with new daily record for covid-19 deaths, while seeking a way to speed up vaccination campaign. A total of 1,129 deaths were recorded on Wednesday. Long considered a good European student in the management of a pandemic, Germany has an “infection and death rate which shows that we are still far from normal,” said Health Minister Jens Spahn.. Struck by the second wave of coronavirus, The country has again applied partial containment measures until at least January 10. Since last Sunday, Germany has embarked on a dynamic vaccination campaign that has started with nursing homes.

The highest death toll was last Wednesday, with 962 victims. A total of 32,107 people have lost their lives to the coronavirus in Germany since the start of the pandemic. “These numbers show how hard the virus continues to strike,” Minister Spahn said.. “In this situation, I don’t see how you can go back” to the period before the restrictions, he warned.

Angela Merkel, who will deliver her last New Year’s message as chancellor this Thursday, and the leaders of the 16 federal states will discuss on January 5 by videoconference a possible extension of the measures. The It is presumed they will extend partial custody beyond January 10, with the closure of all non-essential businesses and schools, and a call for teleworking at all costs.

School holidays end on January 10, extended to three weeks by the pandemic. But groups of teachers wonder if it is possible to fully revert to the face-to-face format.

For now, the end-of-year celebrations will be reduced to a minimum: the sale of fireworks will be prohibited, which fascinates the Germans, and the meetings. “This will probably be the quietest New Years dinner Germany can remember”admitted Spahn, who described a “time of contrasts, between hope and great suffering”.

Covid vaccination campaign is “largest in German history” and “the key factor against the pandemic,” said the head of the Health portfolio, seeking to bring peace of mind to the population. Since its official launch last Sunday, 70,000 citizens have already received their first dose.

The initial goal of the health authorities is to have 1.3 million doses distributed throughout the country by the end of the year. The next target will be to increase to 14 million doses in the first quarter. And continue at this pace until they can make their vaccine (voluntary and free) available to all citizens who want it in mid-2021.

Spahn, who has championed the European Union (EU) equitable vaccine distribution formula from the start, is under pressure from public opinion and the parliamentary sphere to speed up production. He is criticized that instead of choosing this European path, he should have moved forward and negotiated directly with the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its American partner Pfizer., the only one approved to date at EU level.

Accelerating the supply of BioNTech vaccine is technically difficult, because its production involves “very ambitious and innovative requirements”, warned Minister Spahn. “Yes, there are difficulties, but the biggest vaccination campaign in history has started successfully,” he insisted. “We cannot make our impatience the measure of everything and snatch the vaccine from people in the poorest parts of the world.”, assured in the same direction, although much more brutal, the president of the German parliament, Wolfgang schaüble.