No mask, the sun is shining – life is almost like it used to be. But how have we actually mastered the past pandemic years? How did we do compared to other countries? FOCUS Online makes the number check.
No mask requirement, no access restrictions – but parties, concerts and restaurant visits. Life almost feels like it did before the pandemic. Experts have so far disagreed as to whether the Corona crisis is actually over for good. However, most assume that tougher measures such as lockdowns will no longer be necessary in the future.
But what have the previous restrictions actually achieved? How well have we dealt with the pandemic compared to other countries? And how successful was our vaccination campaign? FOCUS Online checks the most important values.
In the following, we compare Germany with five other European countries that have responded to the pandemic with very different measures:
As a data source, we use a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), values from the “Our World in Data” portal and data from the Federal Ministry of Health.
According to a new WHO estimate, Germany performed significantly worse in terms of excess mortality than other European countries during the pandemic years.
Scientists describe excess mortality as an increased death rate compared to the deaths assumed for this year.
116 people per 100,000 inhabitants died during the pandemic in this country, more than statistically expected – that’s more than twice as many as in Sweden. And this despite the fact that the country hardly took any measures during the pandemic. In Denmark, only 32 more people died per 100,000 inhabitants. Italy, on the other hand, recorded slightly more deaths.
The WHO evaluation gives the impression that Germany came through the pandemic much worse than other countries in terms of deaths. However, that cannot be said in general terms, emphasizes the Minister of Health. Karl Lauterbach said on Tuesday evening at “Maybrit Illner”: “Measured by the size of the population and the large number of people who refuse to vaccinate, Germany has relatively few corona deaths compared to other large European countries.” Is that true?
If we look at the absolute number of deaths who died from or with the virus and not, for example, from the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, the situation in Germany is actually better: Compared to the five other European countries, Germany recorded proportionately based on the population fewer deaths from the virus itself than Britain, Italy, Sweden and Spain. Only in Denmark proportionately fewer people died with Covid-19.
So Lauterbach is right: Germany is in a relatively good position compared to the other European countries mentioned here. But these are only those who actually died from Covid – not the people who died during the pandemic, indirectly influenced by the virus.
A look at the vaccination campaign also gives an indication of how well we were able to manage the pandemic. According to experts, the vaccinations that have been available in Germany since the end of 2020 are the most important weapon against the virus.
When it comes to the double vaccinations, Germany is in the lower middle field in a country comparison. In Spain, Denmark and Italy proportionately more people have received a full vaccination. In Sweden and Great Britain, on the other hand, there were fewer.
We are doing a little better with the booster vaccinations. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, 59.5 percent are already boosted in this country, according to “Our World in Data” even 64.2 percent. More booster vaccinations were carried out only in Italy or Italy and Denmark.
Apart from the values mentioned above, there are other points by which the success of the fight against the pandemic can be assessed: In addition to those directly affected by the virus, numerous people have suffered health and physical damage in recent years.
These are difficult to compare with other countries, since there is a lack of precise data and causal relationships are also difficult to prove. There is also a high number of unreported cases. However, the following scientific findings can be cited as examples:
How exactly and how long these indirect consequences of corona management will continue to linger and occupy us cannot yet be estimated.
