ROSTOCK, Germany – It was barely afternoon, but Steffen Bockhahn’s phone had not stopped ringing and people wanted to know if they were eligible for a vaccination, and if not, when?
Days earlier, Germany had changed its leadership on who qualified for vaccines, leading to a seemingly endless amount of questions from concerned locals to Mr. Bockhahn, the Minister of Health for this port city in northeastern Germany.
“No, I’m sorry, but we are not allowed to vaccinate anyone in category 2 yet, only the nurses or other caregivers are in the first priority group,” he told a caller. “You have to wait.”
More than two months after the second country’s last exclusion, people in Germany are tired of waiting, whether for vaccinations, to get government compensation or to return to normal. For Germans, it’s a discouraging comedy.
At the outset of the pandemic, Germany has shown itself to be a world leader in dealing with a one-off public pagan crisis. Chancellor Angela Merkel forged consensus on the closure. Her government’s testing and tracing tools were the envy of European neighbors. The country’s mortality and infection rates were among the lowest in the European Union. His health care was excellent. And a generally reliable population followed constraints with relatively muted hum.
Nothing more. In the second wave of the virus, Germany now finds itself like everyone else. Quite a few stricter new restrictions have expanded amid loud complaints and even occasional protests before everything is closed again. Yet the infection rates are about 10,000 new cases per day.
As elsewhere, the fear of new variants first identified in England and South Africa has been thwarted by the best plans. Germany’s vaccination program, linked to the fate of the European Union, has faltered. Only 3.5 percent of Germans received their first shots, and about 2 percent were fully immunized.
For a country that used to be number 1 in Europe – in economic power, with a reputation for efficiency and organization – the turnaround was not welcomed.
“The country has shone for too long in the glow of its early success,” the left-wing Süddeutsche Zeitung said in an editorial. ‘Now the coronavirus has revealed that Germany has dramatic deficits; in its management, in its administration and with its politicians. ”
A survey by the Pew Research Center showed that although more Germans had confidence in dealing with the pandemic in their country than Americans or Britons, their approval dropped by 11 percentage points between June and December 2020.
The mood only worsened as Germans watched as other countries, notably Britain, intensified their vaccination campaign with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine – developed with the help of German taxpayers – while waiting for the doses.
A large part of the delay stems from production shortages and Germany’s decision to allow it. The European Union to negotiate on his behalf for vaccines, as for all 27 member states of the group. But that solidarity has effectively punished larger, richer countries like Germany. Leaders in Brussels have since acknowledged that they have made mistakes in their joint negotiations, but have done little to appease Germans still awaiting vaccinations.
The government of me. Merkel assisted BioNTech with the refurbishment of a production facility opened this month, hoping to ease the burden on a Pfizer plant in Belgium struggling to meet its orders. But it will take weeks, if not months, before the increased supply reaches vaccination centers.
The center in Rostock opened at the end of December, but on many days only staff are present because there are no doses to administer. On days when vaccinations do occur, there is often so little available that the staff of retired doctors, soldiers of the German army and local volunteers are more than people who turn up for their shots.
‘We have a good crew here, there is so much team spirit. They want to vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate, ‘said Mr. Bockhahn said. ‘But if you can handle 1,000 a day and only reach 400 this week, it’s frustrating. This is very clear. ”
Vaccines are only one point of frustration. Mayors warn about the deaths of downtown if small shops are not allowed to reopen. Some states have reopened schools, while others remain closed. Doctors warn of the lasting psychological damage the lockdown inflicts on children.
Parents are also frustrated by the lack of support for online learning. Germany’s strict data protection laws do not protect Germans from using US learning platforms in the US, but local solutions do not always work smoothly. In many public schools, education now consists of teachers sending lessons as e-mail attachments for students to work through themselves.
Small and independent business owners struggle to understand the rules that determine whether they may work and if not, whether they are eligible for compensation. Many of them struggled to stay afloat, while others gave up hope. Small businesses have been hit harder than the industrial sector, as the German economy has shrunk by 5 percent in the past year.
Me. Merkel did her best to help a weary audience. Last month, the normally reserved chancellor appeared in front of the Berlin news corps, gave two television interviews for the first time, and chatted via video with families overwhelmed by caring for children at home. Each time, she gave reassurance, whether to parents who were exhausted by juggling homeschooling with their work, or hairdressers eager to return to work.
“I wish I had announced something good,” she said, addressing the country.
So do Germans. While the country was preparing for a general election in September – Ms. Merkel has said she will not run again – and will vote in several states in the coming months – the willingness to adapt behind the crippled chancellor is weakening as politicians begin. jockey does for the position before the end of her more than 15 years in power.
“Since the last exclusion, I have reduced all the overhead costs I can,” said Helmuth Fromberger, who runs a small photo studio in the Bavarian city of Mühldorf. “But I have reached the point where I can not cut further.”
Usually he was busy with portraits at this time of year and he was planning for spring and summer weddings. This year, he is only allowed to take passport photos, which raise about $ 70 a day. But because he is allowed to stay open, he does not qualify for the benefits the government sets up to help businesses compensate for losses.
“I really do not want any handouts from the government,” he said in a telephone interview. “But if they stop me from working, they have to take responsibility for it.”
In the past few weeks, dozens of hair salons across the country have teamed up to bring lawsuits against their forced closure in each of the country’s 16 countries. The joint effort is partly attributed to the decision of Ms. Merkel and the governors to reopen salons in early March, as long as the number of new infections does not explode.
André Amberg, who runs a hair salon in the central city of Gotha, has filed a lawsuit against the government in his native Thuringia. He had to close his doors in mid-December and apply for unemployment.
“What’s most frustrating to me is that I can no longer decide for myself on my own life and work situation,” he said. “I am completely at the mercy of the government.”
So Germans are waiting. Wait until their leaders come up with solutions. Wait until infection numbers drop. Waiting to be vaccinated.
Dr. Reinhard Treptow, one of dozens of retired doctors who volunteered to administer vaccinations in Rostock, waited more time to reach doses than to give people their shots.
“We can do so much more,” he says, pointing to the stalls – now empty – where doctors are giving injections in the center. “What we need are more doses.”
Asked if he thought Germany would have been wiser to acquire vaccinations independent of European Union partners, he hesitated and then remarked that his daughter, who lives in South Carolina, had already received her first dose.
“Let’s just say it did not work well here,” he said.