The German logistics industry is proposing emergency measures to maintain supply chains in a feared fifth Corona wave. He could imagine that the "Pact for the Supply of Germany" concluded in March 2020 would be relaunched in the short term, said Dirk Engelhardt, spokesman for the board of the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL), to the specialist service „Tagesspiegel Background" (Wednesday). "We all have to hold our breath and hope that it won't be as tight as feared.“

In the spring of 2020, several industry associations had promised in the first Corona wave to ensure the "functionality of supply chains nationwide and at all times". In coordination with the Federal Ministry of Transport, they want to talk about a new freight transport pact at the beginning of January, Engelhardt said. "There must be no repetition of shelves remaining empty in supermarkets or industrial companies not being supplied with parts."

The state premiers have begun consultations on tougher measures against the feared Omicron wave in the Corona pandemic. The heads of the Länder first discussed the matter among themselves in a video conference. Later, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was to be connected.

In a proposed resolution for the MPK, stricter contact rules are to apply "at the latest" from 28 December and especially on New Year's Eve. According to the draft, private meetings of vaccinated and recovered persons should then only be allowed with a maximum of ten persons. At Christmas, on the other hand, the number of contacts at family celebrations should still be limited on one's own responsibility, it continues. In addition, clubs and discos are to be closed, and sporting, cultural and comparable large-scale events are to take place without spectators.

In the fight against Omikron, the federal and state governments are focusing on the vaccination campaign. According to the draft, it is to continue over Christmas, between the holidays and on New Year's Eve.

The Standing Commission on Vaccination (Stiko) recommends booster vaccinations for the Omikron variant of the coronavirus after at least three months instead of six. The recommendation for a shortened vaccination interval applies to adults with immediate effect, the committee announced on Tuesday. It is aimed at improving protection against severe disease caused by Omicron in the population and reducing transmission of the variant. It is to be expected that Omikron will determine the course of infection in this country "within a very short time“.

Elderly and previously ill people should receive the shot preferentially because of their higher risk of Covid-19, according to Stiko. The two mRNA vaccines used for boosting (Comirnaty from BioNTech/Pfizer and Spikevax from Moderna) are "completely equivalent in terms of effectiveness".

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) recommends "maximum contact restrictions" due to the current Corona situation in Germany. These should "begin immediately" and initially apply until mid-January, as the RKI wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. In addition, "maximum infection prevention measures" and a "maximum speed in vaccinating the population" are needed. Travel should be reduced to what is absolutely necessary, and intensive accompanying communication is needed to understand the measures. In a strategy paper, the RKI recommends, among other things, closing restaurants immediately and extending the Christmas holidays for day-care centres and schools.

With regard to the new Omikron variant of the coronavirus, the RKI speaks of a "pandemic wave currently beginning in Germany". Even if this wave is still at its beginning in Germany, a look abroad shows "that this variant must be expected to cause a wave of infections with a dynamic that has never been observed before“.

Despite uncertainties, initial analyses indicate that Omikron could account for the majority of infection cases in Germany as early as the beginning of January 2022, the RKI reported. There could be several tens of thousands of cases of infection caused by Omikron every day. Under current conditions, the doubling time in Germany would be about three days.