Pandemic years 2020/21 - part 4: The Never Ending Pandemic

November 2020 to November 2021

(DE) These twelve months, from late autumn 2020 to November 2021, blur my memory into a mush of infection numbers that pile up higher and higher as the second, third and fourth waves. Life, however, seems to be without high points and instead full of low points and crushed hopes for even the shortest holiday trip, for visiting friends, for the lightness of summer and the end of the pandemic. If I had to assign a colour to this year, I would choose grey. If I had to name one feeling as predominant, it would be listlessness or even bleakness. My train of thought during this time often led to the question of whether this restricted state would now be with me for the remaining few years of my life. My analytical mind worked itself to breaking point at the ignorance and often also at the indecisiveness and inaction of the politicians and threatened to despair at the stupidity of a minority among my fellow citizens gone wild. Again and again, I felt caught in a time loop because certain experiences and situations seemed to repeat themselves constantly, as did the slogans of the scientists and the political leaders.

At the beginning of the pandemic, in the spring of 2020, I was still curious about the developments. I learned a lot about the virus and pandemic management, and had lively exchanges with friends with the help of modern technology, often spiced with humour. I was ready to put all this down as a new, enlightening experience. However, in 2021, the hope of an end faded away. I, like many others, was worn out by the ups and downs of infection figures, openings and renewed lockdowns, measures taken by the federal and state governments and their withdrawal by those responsible or by constitutional courts, the warnings of virologists and the wait-and-see attitude of government officials.

I would like to tell you about these experiences during this part 4 of my pandemic experiences and start with a few key dates:

From 20 October 2020 to 08 June 2021, the peak of the first wave (in April 2020, over 72,000 active cases/infections) was never undercut.

At the peak of the so-called second wave, on 24 December 2020, there were over 400,000. At the bottom of the wave, on 02 March 2021, over 126,000 infections were counted.

This brief low was followed quickly by a new peak on 25 April 2021, with about 322,000 active cases. (Source: John Hopkins University)

On 15 November 2021, Germany counted 476,000 active corona case numbers. Again, a new high and winter had only just begun.

The chart from statista.com (see below) illustrates the development described and provides an overview.

Source: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1181971/umfrage/aktive-faelle-des-coronavirus-in-deutschland/#professional

These figures show that there was never any real easing of the situation during this period. On the contrary, the infection figures increased from wave to wave, partly due to the new mutation, the Delta variant.

There was no real hope of an end to the pandemic at no point.

Looking back at events from late autumn 2020 onwards

In November 2020, many wondered why no planning for autumn and winter occurred during the summer. Was it not apparent to the political leaders that the virus had by no means been eradicated? With the autumn, the infection figures would rise again, and that medicine still had nothing to counteract this? The scientists stood empty-handed and urged preventive measures, contact restrictions, testing concepts, etc.

The exponential growth overshadowed everything that had been frightening in the first phase of the pandemic.

The people and, astonishingly, the federal and state governments' representatives were amazed by this development that had been predicted by experts, not by esoterics looking into a crystal ball.

This scenario of ignoring the results of scientific simulations on infection figures and the incredulous amazement at the development that, in fact, occurred was to be repeated many times.

In the New Year's classic "Dinner for One", the old lady says: "The same procedure as every year, James". In Germany at that time, one could say: "The same procedure as every year Jens, Angie, Markus...". (Jens Spahn – Health minister, Angela Merkel, Chancellor, Markus Soeder- Bavarian Head of State)

Incidence - a pivotal point

That autumn, I stared daily at the infection figures published in the news and all media in the form of incidence figures.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the R-factor (reproduction factor, i.e., How many others does one infected person infect on average? If this factor falls below 0.7, the event subsides) was an assessment criterion and a benchmark for behavioural regulations.

When the R-factor was replaced by incidence rates (cases of infection within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants) as a basis for political measures and why I don't remember.

In the media, all of Germany's districts and independent cities were now shown with their incidence as measured by the Robert Koch Institute. So every day, you could read whether you lived in a high-risk area and whether the incidence of infection in the immediate vicinity was increasing or decreasing.

In Bavaria, attempts were made to convert these differences into travel restrictions. If, for example, the incidence in a district was over 100, then one was only allowed to leave one's residence up to a radius of 15 km beyond its outer borders. There were exemptions for visits to the doctor, work and shopping. Why the virus might lurk beyond 15 km was not discussed. How this could be controlled had not occurred to anyone. The freedom of movement of, for example, the people of Munich up to their town limits already included many times more kilometres of freedom of movement than the town limits of a small town plus 15km. This measure could no longer be called unfair but only a joke.

The road signs at the edge of the town, which indicated the distance to the next town, took on a whole new meaning. However, the Bavarian state government, more precisely the Prime Minister Markus Söder, was met with puzzled headshaking. The Bavarians jokingly wondered how far they could drive and then went their way as usual.

This measure seemed so nonsensical to most of us that we didn't even get upset about it or protest against it. Instead, we ignored the nonsense, which was not maintained for long.

The dependence of openings and contact restrictions on local incidence lasted longer.

While in Munich, for example, it was already possible to shop in department stores and boutiques by giving contact details, in Hof, everything was still closed. Strangely enough, the incidence in the large cities of southern Germany fell faster than in northern Bavaria on the border to the high-incidence areas of Thuringia, Saxony and the Czech Republic. The border withon the Czech Republic was also closed for a time.

Although my residence is close to the Czech border, the border closure did not affect me. But when I was able to enter a department store in Munich, my first place of residence, for the first time again after a long time, to try on clothes in the textile department and buy a few accessories, I realised how much I had missed this freedom. However, one had to leave one's address at the entrance and the time of entry etc. But with the incidence, the aggravations also fell, and one day, except for the mask, a little normality returned. What remained was the restriction on the number of visitors in many shops. For example, the "Penny-Markt" supermarket around the corner installed a traffic light system at the entrance that turned red when there were too many shoppers in the shop. And until today (February 2022), you can disinfect your hands at the entrance of the shops.

Long-running issues: Mask obligation and mask deals

On 18 January 2021, it was decided that FFP2 masks must be worn throughout Germany.

The problem was, of course, again, as at the beginning of the pandemic, the sourcing of masks. It was compulsory to wear them, but it was impossible to obtain sufficient supplies.

Such an FFP2 mask could now no longer be handmade by oneself, and it was more expensive than surgical masks. They also could not be boiled like the handmade fabric masks but were disposable.

So there was a prioritisation of who was eligible. First, high-risk patients such as the elderly and chronically ill were supplied through the pharmacies free of charge with three of these masks. Then they were available for purchase at a low price. Finally, everyone could buy as much as they wanted.

Apart from a few enterprising members of parliament and representatives of the Bavarian government, China of all countries successfully entered the market niche. No matter where you buy the masks, whether on the internet or in a pharmacy, most of them are "Made in China". Occasionally, one finds the label "Made in Germany" and then pays more for it accordingly. After all, the price includes the commissions for the people's representatives. We are talking about a multi-million-dollar business here.

A few politicians mediated between mask producers and suppliers and the federal government and Bavarian state suppliers. They included political celebrities such as Georg Nüßlein (then MP for the CSU), Alfred Sauter (CSU MP of the state parliament), Andrea Tandler (daughter of former CSU minister and secretary-general Gerold Tandler) and Monika Hohlmeier (CSU member, former Bavarian minister for education and cultural affairs, currently a member of the European Parliament and daughter of the former Bavarian prime minister Franz-Josef Strauß).

While MPs Nüßlein and Sauter bagged commissions in the tens of millions, MEP Monika Hohlmeier denies receiving any financial benefits. However, she acted as a door opener for her friend Andrea Tandler for the Swiss company Emix. Then, the two company owners sold masks worth almost 700 million euros in Germany. German ministries paid between €5.50 and €9.90 per mask. The most expensive deal ever. Of course, the commission for Andrea Tandler's PR agency was correspondingly worth millions.

Source: https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/ndr-wdr/maskenaffaire-sms-spahn-101.html

Bavaria is known for its amigo affairs, which take place right on the border of legality and, in any case, cross the line into unethical reprehensibility. The courts called upon to rule on the matter found no corruption. However, MPs Sauter and Nüßlein were ostracised by their party or forced to resign.

Representatives of the people who exploit the plight of the people to rake money into their private coffers are not fulfilling their responsibilities.

They have forfeited the title of representatives of the people. But even the fact that the governments were so unprepared in the first place that they believed they had to accept overpriced offers cast doubt on their ability to represent the people.

In this pandemic, many mistakes were made and are still being made by various government coalitions. Some were of a communicative nature, and others of an organisational nature. Others showed a lack of decisiveness. However, the mask affairs could also indicate how the federal and state governments do business, not only when there is a pandemic, and some become overbold with greed.

Fear of Lockdown - Fear of the Voters

Considering that on 9 December 2020, when Bavaria once again declared a state of emergency, 319,000 infections were counted daily, while the first time on 16 March 2020, there were only about 7,000, one wonders why a lockdown light was still hesitantly discussed in minister-president meetings with Chancellor Merkel.

In my memory, wishy-washy decisions, modified again by each minister-president for his federal state anyway, waft through autumn and winter.

I observe the potential chancellor candidates of the sister parties CDU/CSU, Armin Laschet (MP North Rhine-Westphalia) and Markus Söder (MP Bavaria), sharpening their profiles. The one from the north is deflecting, and doesn't want a lockdown. He develops plans that are rejected by the rest of the republic because they are pointless and impracticable. The other one from the south plays the doer, pushes ahead with stricter regulations, puts everyone under pressure and still has the highest infection figures in his federal state.

In November 2020, politicians whispered that the Germans should hold back on socialising to be able to celebrate Christmas in the usual family circle. And New Year's Eve should not suffer too much from Corona either.

For me, there is only one explanation for this tactic:

In September 2021, elections are taking place, and politicians are just setting their opinions, actions and presence to election campaign mode.

The need for a lockdown was evident to any reasonably rational person. Moreover, at that time, we were experiencing for the first time exponential growth, during which there seemed to be no upper limit.

One could see and feel the dilemma of the election campaigning politicians and parties, almost hearing their inner monologues: If I annoy people with overly unpleasant measures, they won't vote for me. But if I come across as indecisive, they won't vote for me either because then I don't show any leadership qualities. But, on the other hand, if I do nothing at all and talk a lot and resolutely, then the infection figures go sky-high. Still, the survivors might then vote for me! ... That's how I imagined it in my rage at the fact that the people's representatives didn't want to do justice first and foremost to their task but wanted to raise their profile. Angela Merkel, of all people, who did not want to stand for re-election and therefore was not concerned about the votes, pushed for far-reaching measures in the minister-presidents' conferences. She, who no longer wanted to govern the people, tried to represent the people's interests in this crisis. But she did not stand a chance. How absurd is that?

On 16 December 2020, however, it was the end of the line for everyone.

Finally came the hard lockdown until 10 January 2021. Only the shops for daily needs were allowed to stay open. This put the brakes on the Christmas shopping frenzy.

Good thing too! There is something to be said for a little more tranquillity in the last days of Advent. It was never so quiet before Christmas.

People seemed relieved that a decision had finally been made.

On such occasions, one becomes aware of how much we all need a certain level of guidance. I am not entirely comfortable with this realisation. Guidance? How much guidance? To be led by whom and to where? However, leadership seems to be beneficial and indispensable in this case.

According to the decision, the strict rules for personal contacts - a maximum of five people from a maximum of two households - were to be relaxed for Christmas. Accordingly, from 24 to 26 December, meetings with four people from the immediate family beyond one's own household were permitted, plus children up to the age of 14. This could also allow more than two households. In addition, under certain conditions, church services were permitted. There was a nationwide ban on gatherings on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. In addition, the sale of fireworks for New Year's Eve was prohibited as a matter of principle.

My family only consists of five people, one dog and one cat. So for us, everything we had planned was allowed. My son, daughter-in-law, and I celebrated in Hamburg with my ex-husband and his wife. On Christmas Eve, at about 11 p.m., we met on the street between the houses with the neighbours - at the biggest possible distance, of course - and sang Christmas carols while holding candles in our hands. It was beautiful and harmonious, and for a few hours, the pandemic no longer played a role in our lives.

On 24 December 2020, the peak of the infection wave passed with 400,000 infections. After that, the infection numbers slowly decreased. However, they never fell below the highest level of the first wave before rising again from the beginning of March 2021.

Extended winter blues or maybe even depression?

All hope for improvement lay in the spring awakening. But the opposite was the case. Exponential growth gave rise to bad omens.

A federal emergency brake had emerged from one of the minister presidents' conferences with the Chancellor. The political representatives had agreed that the regional states would decide on their own more far-reaching restrictions once the 7-day incidence exceeded the hundred mark. But this did not stop the exponential growth.

So it came to a farce that exposed the helplessness and confusion of those politically responsible these days:

On 23 March, the Minister Presidents' Conference with Chancellor Merkel decided, after 12 hours of deliberation, on a so-called extended Easter holiday. In addition to Good Friday and the usual Easter holidays, Maundy Thursday and Easter Saturday were also declared holidays. Furthermore, only grocery shops would be allowed to open on Saturday. The intention was that the wave would be broken during these five days of rest when contact was restricted.

The implementation of this decision had to be aborted on the very next day. The decision-makers had not thought through what consequences this closure would have for workers, companies, and shops. The Chancellor withdrew this measure and apologised for the confusion. She even took sole responsibility, which was, of course, nonsense because all the regional prime ministers had helped to organise this debacle.

So we more or less lived in a permanent lockdown or were threatened with an even harsher lockdown with curfew and even stronger contact restrictions.

I felt completely at the mercy of the whims of a virus, the helplessness of our political leaders and Saint Peter, who, as we all know, is supposed to be responsible for the weather on earth.

In Germany, in Bavaria, to be precise, it never really turned into summer. On the contrary, it was cold and wet, and on some days in August, I even had to turn on the heating, while heatwaves in southern Europe and the USA caused massive forest fires.

When unbelievable amounts of rain led to devastating, unprecedented floods in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate in mid-July, it felt a bit like the apocalypse.

Everyone murmured that these were the consequences of climate change. So, finally, something had to be done about it, and typically German, elementary insurance should become compulsory for homeowners.

For a while, Corona was but background music.

Those who did not have well-functioning denial mechanisms did not go on a holiday lightly but observed with concern the changing infection patterns in Germany and the holiday countries and the moderately successful vaccination campaign. Everyone was dreading a new lockdown, and everyone was annoyed to the point of anger.

At the beginning of the summer, Germany's infection protection measures were slowly reduced. At first, shops and restaurants opened according to local incidence. Still, people were only allowed in with an appointment and a test. Later they were permitted with proof of vaccination, recovery, or test, finally without restriction except for the obligation to wear a mask.

The students mostly sat at home, whether in quarantine or to prevent infection; it didn't matter. They were studying in their homes. The first-year and second-year students wondered what their university looked like from the inside. They had not yet entered a lecture hall or seminar room.

But there were relaxations. People managed to travel. After all, many things became possible with tests, good business deals even including fraud. Travel-willing people were not bothered that only the PCR tests gave reliable results and were happy to buy them. Tour operators, airlines, hotel and restaurant industries fought for existential survival, and the guests fought against depressive moods. So a win-win situation?! But not for those who became infected on the plane, for example, and then infected others at home.

I personally didn't feel truly free. It was only a matter of time before new waves would come. These could lead to lockdowns or at least some kind of restrictions. To me, it was clear it simply wasn't over yet.

Published figures, scientific projections and scenarios or simulations left no doubt about that. And as so often in life, it drove me crazy that the whole world was acting as if the pandemic problem had been solved. Yet a new mutation appeared on the horizon, the highly infectious and quite aggressive Delta variant. I would have loved to have had more talent for denial during this time.

The infection figures rose again at the end of July 2021, maybe because mass events were now possible.

From 11 June to 11 July 2021, the European Football Championship was held in front of crowds in 10 European cities and Baku, Azerbaijan. The Allianz Arena in Munich was also the venue, and the fans behaved as true fans do. Boozing and bawling and gathering together. I watched underground trains packed with fans rolling past me to the stadium. Their shouting and chanting pushed every respirator mask to its limits.

The final match at Wembley Stadium in London was two-thirds full, with 60,000 spectators. There was no mask requirement, probably because no one would have stuck to it anyway. This event was great for the starving football fans who had had enough of ghost matches without an audience.

But it was absurd for all those who wondered why infection control measures were once in place when suddenly mass events were allowed to occur at a time of rising incidence.

In 2020, this international football event was postponed because of the Corona pandemic. However, the games took place in 2021 despite the rising number of infections that were in Germany in June 2021, 4 to 5 times higher than in the same period in 2020. Thanks to UEFA and its business sense.

Do we need to understand this?

You don't have to, but you can justify it. There was one big difference in 2020: the world had vaccines. Well, not the world, but some countries did.

Vaccine shortage and vaccination opponents

In November 2020, Ugur Sahin (Professor of Experimental Oncology at the Medical Clinic of the University of Mainz) and Özlem Türeci (Professor at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz), the founding couple and CEO (Sahin) and Medical Director (Türeci) of the BioNTech company appeared before the press. They declared that their publicly listed company BioNTech-Pfizer had developed an mRNA-based vaccine against covid-19 that would provide 95% protection against infection. A glimmer of hope!

Other pharmaceutical companies soon brought vaccines onto the market. AstraZeneca had developed a vector vaccine, and Moderna offered an mRNA-based vaccine, as did BioNTech, to name but the best known. However, the countries' approvals were still taking a long time, and the German vaccination commission is working thoroughly. For that, though, I am honestly grateful.

The EU then went shopping for all 27 member countries and worked out quotas. But of course, there was a dispute with, for example, the Swedish-British company AstraZeneca. The company allegedly found itself unable to meet delivery commitments due to production difficulties but was perfectly capable of increasing its supplies to the UK. At least, that is how it was communicated in the press. But BioNTech's production was also a bit bumpy at the beginning. After all, the production had to be set up first. So what was the result? Lack of vaccine! Start-up difficulties!

Vaccine prioritisation!

There were four groups of prioritisation in the winter and spring of 2021, the time of the vaccine shortage. The deciding factors were age and pre-existing conditions. With my 68 years, I ended up in prioritisation group II. The fact that I have a damaged heart due to a heart attack did not matter. So I waited patiently and for a long time quite calmly for the things that were to come.

What came first and foremost were discussions. The anti-vaccination activists mobilised on social media and the streets. Vaccination centres were set up at great expense. At some point, the family doctors intervened, saying they could take over the vaccinations because they knew their patients' medical records better than the doctors at the vaccination centre.

This was especially an argument because the AstraZeneca vector vaccine had been discredited. First, the vaccine was recommended only for people under 60 years of age due to a lack of data, and then only for people over 64.

The Stiko ( Permanent Vaccination Commission) had to deal with cerebral vein and sinus vein thrombosis cases in young women after vaccination. The use was suspended and re-released, but now for older people and no longer for young people. A few studies later, a U-turn again! BioNTech for the elderly and AstraZeneca, after thorough consultation, for the young. Why, why, why? It was difficult to understand because the side effects were actually very rare. In the UK, for example, 4 cases of thrombosis and one death occurred in one million vaccinated people. But the press also pounced on every speculation as if it were a matter of avoiding mass vaccine damage.

No wonder this vaccine became a slow seller, and people became increasingly suspicious altogether.

All these arguments took place even though there were not enough vaccines available for everyone.

The media told tales of vaccine tourism, cheating to move up in the prioritisation group, and vaccine critics such as Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters), Bavarian Deputy Minister-President and Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs.

In April, I was still waiting for a vaccination appointment at the vaccination centre. Around me, there were already many vaccinated people younger than me, but with better reasons. What these reasons were precisely was a mystery to me. Slowly, I began to get the feeling that the vaccine system might have forgotten me. Then suddenly, I received an offer by telephone of an appointment for the very evening. I didn't care about the type of vaccine, but it was BioNTech, the generally preferred vaccine. I had almost no side effects with the first vaccination, but with the second vaccination, I felt aching limbs and joints for two days lurking in the background for another week. But then it was over. It was a good feeling, a kind of hope that times might get better after all.

Excited and agitated discussions marked this phase. Finally, when enough vaccines were available at the beginning of July 2021,them and the vaccination prioritisation was lifted, the interest in vaccination waned among the population, and there was no peace at all.

Polarisation, resentment and anger

Heated discussions took place in the reader forums of the Süddeutsche Zeitung and interviews and reports on radio and television.

While most people still had to wait for their vaccination, others called for the immediate withdrawal of restrictions on vaccinated and recovered people because any restriction on the fundamental rights of vaccinated people now had no legal basis.

The younger ones sneered that they no longer had a good life because of the older people, even though young people did not get seriously ill. Now, these selfish older people wanted all their rights of freedom back just because they had been given priority in vaccination. After all, they, the young, could not help it if no one had wanted or been able to vaccinate them.

But when everyone could have been vaccinated in the summer of 2021, the vaccination campaign was slow in coming. After all the bad press and the tossing and turning about individual vaccines and their side effects, many people had reservations. People also distrusted the vaccines because they received medical clearance in such an unusually short time. "This can't have been properly researched!" many argued.

Then, of course, there were the ideologically motivated vaccination refuseniks who saw a political or pharmaceutical industry-driven conspiracy behind the vaccination campaign.

In any case, "vaccination refusers" (anti-vaxxers) became a synonym for stupid, irresponsible, lazy, antisocial people.

Countries and municipalities considered motivating those who refused vaccination because they were lazy. So mobile vaccination teams were set up in busy places, such as shopping centres, next to the bratwurst stall etc.

I was amazed that after this long period of lockdown and contact restrictions, there were people who had still not had their vaccinations because they had not yet been able to arrange them. If you were going shopping anyway, you could do it quickly. A doctor's appointment or an appointment at the vaccination centre? No, no, no!

The vaccination centres complained in the summer that many people did not show up for the second vaccination. Probably they couldn't make it because they were on holiday.

And the debates in the print, online, audio and visual media kept finding new material.

Now there was discussion about whether vaccine refusers should perhaps be the last in the line to be cared for or even have to pay for their treatment costs if they had to go to the hospital for a severe corona disease.

Serious thought was being given to whether or not employers should be allowed to ask about the vaccination status of their employees.

It was also considered whether unvaccinated people should receive continued pay in the event of a quarantine.

Corona tests, required according to the 3-G rule for the unvaccinated to visit restaurants and events, had to be paid for. But, of course, this is also a topic of discussion!

Whether children should be vaccinated, whether the scientists recommended it, and if so, at what age also led to emotional and rational upheavals.

Tidal wave of the unvaccinated and Corona deniers

On 05 November 2021, the 7-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants was around 150 across Germany, and 250 in Bavaria, with an upward trend. People were talking about an infection wave of the unvaccinated. For example, 90 % of the patients in intensive care units who had to be ventilated were unvaccinated. In a radio interview, I heard a stunned doctor saying that he had people lying there who were seriously ill with Corona. However, they still claimed that Corona did not exist, that they would never be vaccinated and that the whole family had not been vaccinated and never would be. You don't know what to say to that.

About two-thirds of Germans, including me and my family and friends, are vaccinated. Those over 70 in the first vaccination phase need a booster vaccination. The recommendations go toward booster vaccination, i.e. booster with a third vaccination, for everyone. Children under 12 have not yet been vaccinated in Germany.

The opponents of vaccination organised a day of remembrance for the victims of the Corona vaccination.

Around 5 million people worldwide had died of or with Corona at that time, about 100,000 of them in Germany. The Paul Ehrlich Institute in Germany investigated about 100 suspected cases of deaths close to the time of the vaccination. Most of them were very old and had suffered from other severe illnesses from which they eventually died. Corona outbreaks often occurred in nursing homes when the newly vaccinated had not yet developed sufficient vaccine protection. Others were not allowed to have a post-mortem examination at the request of their relatives. To cut a long story short, there was no scientific proof of deaths caused by the vaccination.

November 2021 - Germany in a desolate state

I felt like I was in an endless loop in which events were constantly repeating. The slogans of politicians, the warnings of experts, the ignorance of most people, the exponential growth in the number of infections, the fear of hospitals and their medical staff being overburdened...

Intensive care units were running out of beds and staff. Nurses and doctors were exhausted after more than a year of constant stress. Some quit and looked for a new line of work. When interviewed, they said it was particularly enervating to see that many younger people were in intensive care. They did not get vaccinated, even though there was enough vaccine for everyone. Fear? Ignorance? Opponents of vaccination? Phlegmatic? They wouldn't know.

The vaccination rate in Germany in November 2021 was just under 68 %. In regions with an incidence of over 1000, a vaccination rate of just over 50 % had been achieved. That was not enough to contain the pandemic. In a speech on 15 November 2021, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called out to the unvaccinated: "What else needs to happen?"

Particularly in southern Germany, Saxony and Thuringia, the incidence quickly rose to several hundred and exceeded the thousand mark. Why?

I had and have a theory about that. In the south of Germany, the esoteric scene is widespread and distrusts conventional medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. In Saxony and Thuringia, the political right is strong, fuelling distrust of the German state and ranting about a vaccination dictatorship and fascist tendencies of the governing parties. This right-wing lateral movement is building up a network as part of the protests against Corona measures, which it will undoubtedly feed new content after the pandemic. The aim is to weaken democratic structures. All alarm bells are ringing when I think about this.

But the German government's pandemic management was also quite lacklustre during this period.

Half-hearted pandemic response

Virologists urged that booster vaccinations be given to those who have been vaccinated. Vaccine protection wears off after five to six months, medical experts said. A booster vaccination would increase the protection again.

But the vaccination centres were closed in the summer due to a lack of people willing to be vaccinated. So, where to put the masses of booster vaccinators? Booting the vaccination centres would take a while, and the delta wave was building up ominously.

German politicians could have planned ahead by looking at Israel's development and handling of the pandemic. Israel boosted the population in good time and consistently.

But during the summer, there had been an election campaign in Germany. The extensive withdrawal of restrictions and opening of retail, gastronomy and sports and cultural facilities could bring votes.

By October/November 2021, political Germany was without leadership and direction in this current crisis.

Whereas before the Bundestag elections in September 2021, the representatives of all parties were eager to explicitly demonstrate their competence in the pandemic through actionism or prudence, now they all had "better things" to do. The losers of the elections, the CDU/CSU, still provided the caretaker chancellor and the cabinet, including Health Minister Jens Spahn. But their representatives no longer felt responsible. Still-Health Minister Jens Spahn intended, during unchecked exponential growth, to let the legal instrument of declaring an "epidemic situation of national significance", which according to the Bundestag resolution, was to apply until 25 November, expire.

The potential coalition partners and election winners, SPD, Greens and FDP, did not want to extend this legal basis for far-reaching Corona restrictions in Germany. Therefore, the state of emergency, which allowed the federal and state governments to react to the respective pandemic developments and issue binding regulations, was to be replaced by an amendment to the Infection Protection Act to be passed by parliament. The intention was to grant parliament the competence to legislate even in a crisis such as this pandemic.

This was the current thinking in November.

Given the rising infections, this discussion was of secondary importance. Germany needed concrete decisions at that time. But no one wanted to expose themselves.

Regulations, regulations, regulations

The SPD, Greens and FDP were still tinkering with their coalition agreement and did not know precisely what they were allowed to want.

The scientists had been calling for measures for weeks. Unfortunately, their warnings in the summer about the fourth wave had gone unheard.

The SPD favoured compulsory vaccination for certain professions. Even absolute mandatory vaccination was discussed publicly. Variations of entry restrictions for restaurants, retail and public transport were also presented: 2-G+ means that only vaccinated and recovered people who have also taken a test would be allowed to enter. 2-G means that unvaccinated people who have only been tested would not be allowed to enter. 3-G means that vaccinateded, recovered, and tested persons would be allowed to enter. What is the most effective option? And who should control all this and how?

I was fascinated by the idea of 2-G in trains and buses. However, how that would work was beyond me!

But people very quickly got used to these access restrictions, pulled out their vaccination and test cards, and the shops and restaurants demanded them too. Wearing FFP2 masks had long become commonplace. The majority of Germans did their best to avoid infections.

Schools and universities were open. However, the schools had not been equipped with ventilation systems during the summer holidays. So the pupils sometimes had to wear masks, then they didn't, then they did. So constantly, some were in quarantine, sometimes even whole classes again.

The Christmas market stalls were set up, and no one knew whether a Christmas market would take place or not.

On 18 November 2021, there was again a conference of minister-presidents to discuss how to proceed, together with Angela Merkel, who is still Chancellor of Germany. Didn't we already have that from October 2020 to early summer 2021?

I, an observer and reflective pensioner, wondered, as did many scientists and journalists, why politicians were now astonished that it had come about as the experts had predicted. Why no precautions had been taken? Why no foresight had been shown!

In the following part of my pandemic experiences, I will describe and comment on what happened in Germany from 18 November 2021 onwards. (TA)