Current Corona situation Almost every fourth person in NRW has been vaccinated against Corona
Berlin/NRW · Almost every fourth inhabitant of North Rhine-Westphalia has been vaccinated at least once against the corona virus since the start of the vaccination campaign at the end of December. Also, the federal government wants to quickly establish exemptions for vaccinated people.
Almost every fourth inhabitant of North Rhine-Westphalia has been vaccinated at least once against the corona virus since the start of the vaccination campaign at the end of December. This is according to the vaccination statistics of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) published on Monday. According to this, up to and including Sunday, 4,362,227 people in NRW have received an initial vaccination against Corona. This corresponds to a vaccination rate of 24.3 percent. The most populous German state is thus further above the national average, which is 23.4 percent.
According to data from the Robert Koch Institute, more than one in two NRW residents aged 60 or older has received the first shot. The rate in this age category is 54.2 percent. Under the age of 60, the figure is 12.7 percent. Prioritized occupational groups for vaccinations include, in particular, staff in intensive care units, emergency rooms and rescue services.
According to the RKI, almost 1.3 million people in NRW have received the second shot for full vaccination protection. That's 7.0 percent of the population compared to a national average of 7.2 percent. This means that a good 5.6 million vaccine doses have been injected in NRW so far.
Federal government wants to quickly establish exemptions for vaccinated people
According to its own statements, the federal government wants to introduce exemptions for vaccinated persons as soon as possible. However, according to government spokesman Steffen Seibert, there is not yet a precise timetable for the adoption of a corresponding ordinance in the cabinet. Seibert said in Berlin on Monday, "We are striving to work quickly on a draft regulation." He added that its form would depend on the outcome of the conference of minister presidents.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and the minister presidents of the German states planned to join forces Monday afternoon for a so-called vaccination summit. The video conference was to focus on which Corona restrictions could be dropped for vaccinated people and those recovering from Covid-19. According to a key issues paper released over the weekend, the federal government believes there should be certain exemptions from current contact and exit restrictions for the fully vaccinated and those who have recovered. The planned bill must be approved by the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
The vaccination summit is also expected to address issues of prioritization - that is, when who is eligible to be vaccinated. Despite the vaccination ordinance that applies nationwide, there are sometimes slightly different regulations in the various federal states. For example, journalists in Rhineland-Palatinate are counted as critical infrastructure personnel and thus belong to priority 3 of the vaccination ordinance, but not elsewhere.
(Original text: ga/dpa; Translation: Mareike Graepel)
