German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has backed the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Germany saying he has full trust in all vaccines approved by the German authorities.
In a rare national television address to the country, President Steinmeier who received the AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, urged all Germans to get vaccinated against the virus. He said: “I trust all – I stress: all – vaccines approved in Germany. Vaccination is the most important step on our way out of the pandemic – so take advantage of the opportunities! Join in!”
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He urged Germans to renew their trust in democracy, “Trust – in a democracy, this is based on a very fragile agreement between citizens and their state: You, state, do your part; I citizens do mine,” he said.
He acknowledged the sacrifices being made by citizens. “You, the citizens, are doing your part in this historic crisis! You are doing a lot, and you are sacrificing a lot. For some, the lockdown has long since ceased to be about lost income; it is about bare existence. So I understand all the more the impatience and frustration about the setbacks of the past few months.”
President Steinmeier made the government had made mistakes “when it comes to testing, to vaccinations, to digital solutions.”
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He asked the federal and national government to pull their acts and come up with clear, decisive, understandable and pragmatic regulations.
“There is, of course, no one silver bullet to end the pandemic. And that is why we need political debate – but this debate must not become an end in itself,” President Steinmeier said. “Federal or state government, party or coalition, what direction the polls are sliding — up or down in the polls — these considerations must not take center stage. We need clarity and resolve, we need transparent and pragmatic rules, so that people know where they stand, so that this country can once again draw on all of the potential which it possesses.”