Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) warns against misunderstandings about the end of all Corona laws that he announced in the middle of this year. “Corona will stay,” said the head of the department. He also called for the Covid booster vaccinations to be picked up and for the vulnerable to continue to be protected. At the same time, he stressed that it was about dealing with the situation – but not in crisis mode.
“It is wrongly written: ‘The minister ends the pandemic’ with a stroke of the pen. That is not the case,” said Rauch about his announcement last weekend that he wants to abolish all laws and regulations surrounding Corona in the first half of 2023. The current situation is – “thank God” – a good one. However, the virus “will not go away”, “Corona will stay”. The conditions would be created now so that one can live with it in the long run. There will always be times when there are more diseases, then it is important to ‘deal with it smartly and carefully’ – but no longer in crisis mode.
Rauch warns: do not equate corona with flu
The booster vaccination will in any case remain, which is then ‘ideally’ picked up together with the flu vaccination. The minister was hesitant to comment on the view of some scientists – such as the virologist Norbert Nowotny – that “thanks to vaccinations and good medication” covid can now be equated with flu. “I am careful with the flu comparison. You cannot equate that 1:1. I would also warn against it,” said Rauch. Both diseases require separate treatment “and so do we”.
Long Covid is also ‘in the picture’, with Rauch referring to the still ‘lean’ research situation, which is getting better. In that respect, there is an exchange with other countries, such as Switzerland and Germany. And in Austria, corona commissioner Susanne Rabady has an “excellent expert” who is very committed to providing appropriate further training for medical practices.
Regulations must be “nationally uniform”.n
Rauch did not want to specify which measures will be abolished when, nor whether the mask obligation can continue to exist in hospitals. Prepare all this well and only then communicate it. “You have to talk to the federal states,” said the minister. It is important to continue to protect the vulnerable and to shift vaccination to the private sector. “Preparing this carefully and only then putting it on the table is my approach.” Important to him are “nationally uniform regulations that are clear and understandable”.
“Pandemic plan” should come this year
It is certain that the corona vaccination will remain free, he repeated. As a precaution, he does not believe in including mandatory vaccination in the new epidemic law. Rauch wants to implement the change he announced during this legislature – i.e. by the autumn of 2024. It has to go faster – namely this year – with the ‘pandemic plan’ that he also announced. This should be a “handbook” of sorts: “How do we go about coming out of pandemic mode from the early phase of a potential pandemic through the peak phase and then again”.
Source: Krone
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