Unvaccinated
should reflect on their duty to society, Merkel says
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[November 12, 2021]
BERLIN (Reuters) - People who are still not
vaccinated as the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic takes hold in
Germany must understand they have a duty to the rest of society to
protect others, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.
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Merkel, speaking at the invitation of New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern at an Asia-Pacific business summit, said it was the
task of politicians to make the case for serious interventions by
being honest with the public.
Coronavirus case numbers have surged across Europe in recent weeks,
with experts worrying that health systems risk once again being
overwhelmed, in part because unvaccinated people are still spreading
the disease to the older and more vulnerable.
"We have to make it clear that I have the right to get vaccinated,
and that is a great fortune, a huge achievement of science and
technology," Merkel said over a video link. "But I also have a
certain obligation to contribute to protecting society."
While many of the unvaccinated are in age groups that are
statistically likely to experience less severe cases of COVID-19,
they can pass the virus to older people with weaker immune systems,
who can then end up in intensive care even with a vaccination.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Nov/12/images/ads/current/ldn_sda_062409.png) Merkel, who was being
interviewed by Microsoft president Brad Smith,
added that the challenges of the pandemic and of
climate change were similar, since they were
both exponential processes whose severity was
hard to recognise at the start of a growth
curve.
"When you see the start of an exponential
increase you have to act immediately, and an
understanding of what exponential means isn't
widespread in our societies," Merkel said.
"That's also why we have been so unconcerned
about climate change - that also has exponential
growth and we have to act at a time when it is
not at all visible how the numbers will grow."
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Andrew
Heavens)
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