Vaccines: A Very European Disaster

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/opinion/coronavirus-vaccine-europe.html

by deafcalculus • 5 years ago

7 2 5 years ago

This is so much on point. Pardon me if this text reads too much as a rant, but as a young, rational person, the events of the past weeks and months have really changed my perspective on politics and Europe overall.

Besides the direct effects of COVID, realising how utterly hypocritical and ineffective both national and EU level politics are has me feeling trapped. It has also completely changed my view of Angela Merkel. No leadership what so ever. What's more, there seems to be no other way to escape this system other than to emigrate from the EU.

While I think the text errs on one fact (Germany afaik followed most other EU nations instead of leading the pack of suspenders), the fact that vaccines were suspended at all really showed the extent of the whole failure of politics and institutions, not only in a medical, but in a democratic way.

I think it's quite obvious that besides any worthy medical considerations, the suspensions were politically consciously made to appease right wing and anti vaxxination nut jobs - a tiny but vocal minority. The - voluntary (!) - option for elderly citizens to protect oneself from a deadly virus, which is causing social end economic hardship on a scale seen once in a hundred years was taken from any other citizen to... mitigate a tiny medical risk and appease a tiny minority which most likely will not be convinced to get a shot anyways.

It's hard for me to put into words just how crazy this fact is if one lets it sink in a little bit. Post truth politics, driven by fringe nuts. That's what the EU has come down to.

Germany's conservative governing party CDU/ CSU is at it's lowest ratings ever (27% atm) and there is a real possibility that for the first time in decades, they might not make the cut in September's federal elections to form the next government.

For all the differences with the US political system where it seems party lines are so much valued they have turned into trenches, I am left wondering if and how such a systematic mess can even be changed by a change in a governing party while the anonymous, unelected (EU) bureaucrats pretty much stay where they are.

amai• 5 years ago

"Germany suspended AstraZeneca, and others rushed to follow out of fear"

That is simply wrong. Denmark was the first country to suspend the use. Germany was one of the last countries to stop the use. But this was already 10 days ago. Is it too much to ask from a NYT journalist to research the news from 10 days ago?

- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56357760

- https://www.dw.com/en/covid-several-european-countries-halt-...

Update: I see now, this article was not written by a journalist, but by an opinion columnist (Paul Krugman, not really known as an expert on vaccines and pandemics). That explains the quality of the article.

Vaccines: A Very European Disaster

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