German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that boosting vaccination rates won't be enough to contain the outbreak of coronaviruses, and that countries across Europe should prepare for drastic measures to smother the outbreak.
European countries are implementing restrictions on unvaccinated people.
The images are from the same source.
According to the report, the conservative party officials were told that many Germans don't understand how bad the outbreak is.
The measures would exceed new restrictions barring unvaccinated people from public transport and many areas of public life, which apply in areas where hospitalized Covid-19 patients exceed a certain threshold, and health minister Jens Spahn said he could not rule out another nationwide lockdown.
Austria went back into full lock down on Monday after a more targeted, unvaccinated-only lockdown, and politicians in Germany are debating whether to follow suit.
Austrians who refuse the jab will face fines of up to 3,600 ($4,000) and smaller fines for refusing booster shots.
The Prime Minister of Slovakia called the measures a "lockdown for the unvaccinated" and said they would bar them from entering restaurants and public events.
Spahn said at the news conference that by the spring, most of Germany will be vaccine-free. It is very, very likely that anyone who isn't vaccine-vaccinated will get the very contagious delta variant over the next few months.
The key background.
Europe has become the center of the epidemic. Cases and deaths have risen there even as they have fallen around the world. The World Health Organization warned that 500,000 deaths could be recorded by March if sufficient steps aren't taken. Many countries, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, are facing a surge in infections. The Netherlands, Slovakia, Austria, Czechia, Germany, and other countries have all hit new highs. Protests against new restrictions have erupted across the bloc as governments scramble to contain rising cases. Many of these measures explicitly target the unvaccinated, who experts and officials warn are undoubtedly driving the new wave by refusing provably safe and effective vaccines.
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