Get vaccinated or get Covid: Health minister tells Germans as cases spike

Germany's health minister said rapid rise in coronavirus cases means it's likely everyone in the country who isn't vaccinated will have caught Covid-19 by the end of the winter

Germany's health minister said Monday that the rapid rise in coronavirus cases means it's likely everyone in the country who isn't vaccinated will have caught COVID-19 by the end of the winter and some of those will die.

Official figures Monday showed more than 30,000 newly confirmed cases in Germany over the past 24 hours an increase of about 50% compared to one week ago. The country is this week expected to pass 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitals have warned that ICU capacities are nearly exhausted, with some patients having to be transferred to other clinics far away.

Health Minister Jens Spahn urged Germans to get vaccinated, including with booster shots if their first round of inoculation occurred more than six months ago, to reduce the risk of serious illness.

By the end of this winter pretty much everyone in Germany (...) will have been vaccinated, recovered or died, Spahn told reporters in Berlin.

He acknowledged some had described this view as cynical. But it's true. With the highly contagious delta variant this is very, very likely and that's why we are recommending vaccination so urgently, said Spahn.

Spahn said some 50 million doses of the Moderna and BioNtech-Pfizer vaccines will be made available for the rest of the year to allow people to get first, second or third shots, as necessary. To achieve this, Germany is holding back tens of millions of doses originally intended for poor countries. Those missing doses will be provided at a later date, he said.

Some politicians in Germany have suggested the country may need to consider compulsory vaccinations, like its neighbor Austria.

About 68% of the population in Germany has been fully vaccinated; experts say a rate above 75% across the population is necessary.

Karl Lauterbach, a prominent lawmaker with the center-left Social Democrats, called for a radical application of rules requiring people to present vaccination or recovery certificates to access some stores and public places.

A general vaccine mandate (shouldn't be) taboo either, he said on Twitter.

Bavaria's conservative governor, Markus Soeder, said Monday that he favors mandatory vaccines for all, too.

The southern state has seen the second-highest infection rates lately, behind Saxony to the northeast. The doctors' association there said Saxony needs to prepare for a system of triage to manage the few remaining ICU beds in the state.

Gernot Marx, the head of Germany's intensive care association DIVI, said many hospitals in hard-hit regions have begun postponing scheduled surgery.

He noted that the country has about 4,000 fewer ICU beds available than a year ago because large numbers of medical staff quit their jobs because of the intense strain of working during the pandemic.

Despite high infection rates among children, schools remain open in Germany.

Spahn, the health minister, said he expects the European Union to approve vaccines against COVID-19 for children aged 5-11 at the end of the week.

The EU will begin shipping vaccines adjusted for younger children on Dec. 20, with Germany initially getting 2.4 million doses, he said.