Merkel Under Pressure to Speed Up Vaccinations as Curbs Tighten

(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government faces pressure to lay out a path toward more normality after a controversial lockdown law went into effect over the weekend, triggering curfews and tougher restrictions across most of Germany.

Merkel will holds talks with regional leaders on Monday on plans to speed up coronavirus vaccinations and allow greater freedoms for fully immunized citizens after a sluggish start to the country’s program.

Germany is battling a stubborn “third wave” of the coronavirus and remains in partial lockdown, with stricter curbs such as nighttime curfews in place for hot spots. The national seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 people edged up again on Monday and is above a level that triggers the closing of stores, schools, restaurants and cultural venues in most parts of the country.

Merkel and state officials will look into allowing shots to anyone who wants one, dropping rules regulating who is at the front of the queue. Health Minister Jens Spahn has said this step won’t likely happen until June on a national basis, but some states including Berlin have already done so for AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine.

Officials including Bavaria Premier Markus Soeder and Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller also want people who have been fully inoculated to be freed from requirements to provide a negative test to go shopping and to the hairdresser.

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Allowing those privileges would “make a lot of people’s daily lives easier,” said Mueller, who currently chairs the conference of Germany’s 16 state leaders.

“There is clear scientific advice that says whoever has been fully vaccinated and then waits for two weeks has comprehensive protection for themselves and doesn’t pose a threat to others,” Mueller said Monday in an interview with broadcaster n-tv. “I hope we get a solution as soon as possible.”

Germany and the rest of the European Union have trailed other developed countries in getting their vaccine campaign up and running, though it has accelerated significantly in recent weeks and is expected to speed up further in May and June.

According to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, Germany has vaccinated 7% of the population fully, compared with almost 19% in Britain and more than 28% in the U.S.

“Our biggest problem practically this whole time was that the EU vaccine orders were too slow,” Mueller said. “Now more and more are coming, and I hope that company doctors will be included as soon as possible as they can really inject a lot of momentum.”

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