Pandemic of the unvaccinated hits Germany

Fourth wave propelled by winter as well as people who distrust vaccine and the state

BERLIN • The University Hospital of Giessen, one of Germany’s foremost clinics for pulmonary disease, is at capacity. The number of Covid-19 patients has tripled in recent weeks.

Nearly half of them are on ventilators. And every single one has not been vaccinated.

“I ask every patient: Why didn’t you get vaccinated?” said Dr Susanne Herold, head of infectious diseases, after her ward round on Thursday. “It’s a mix of people who distrust the vaccine, distrust the state and are often difficult to reach by public information campaigns.”

Patients like hers are the main drivers of a fourth wave of Covid-19 cases in Germany that has produced tens of thousands of new daily infections – more than the country has had at any point in the pandemic.

It is a startling turnabout for Germany. At the pandemic’s onset, it had set an example for how to manage Covid-19 and keep the death toll low. It was quick to put in place widespread testing and treatment and to expand the number of intensive care beds, and it had a trusted leader in Chancellor Angela Merkel, a scientist, whose government’s social distancing guidelines were widely observed.