To justify socially oppressive and economically harmful 2G COVID-19 restrictions on the unvaccinated, Peter Tschentscher, the left-wing mayor of Hamburg who is also a medical doctor, deliberately misled the public, citing patently false information which suggested nearly all of those infected with COVID-19 were unvaccinated, according to German media news reports.
Prominent lawmakers are now calling on Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) to resign from his post after it was revealed that he used false data, which maintained 95 percent of the COVID-infected people in the Hanseatic city were unvaccinated, to justify the implementation of strict 2G restriction measures on the unvaccinated to purportedly curb the spread of the virus, Die Welt reports.
The SPD mayor’s false claim that 95 percent of people infected with COVID-19 in Hamburg had not been vaccinated paved the way for the state’s Senate — ruled by a coalition between the Greens and the SPD — to become the first federal state in Germany to introduce the so-called 2G system. Following the introduction of the 2G measures in his state, Tschentscher then lobbied publicly for the 2G system to be applied throughout the entire Federal Republic of Germany.
On Nov. 16, Tschentscher justified the corona measures with the high incidence value of the unvaccinated, saying, “Of our 3,452 new infections this calendar week, over 90 percent are in people without full vaccination protection,” said the mayor during a press conference.
“Because of those who have not yet been vaccinated, the incidence has an impact. Against this background, we said in Hamburg in August: We need more security in such a situation, which consists in the fact that there are simply too many unvaccinated people. And that’s why we were the first federal state in Germany to introduce a 2G rule for areas where there is a higher risk of infection,” he said during the conference.
Under the 2G system, entry into public spaces like restaurants, gyms, cafes, theaters, and other cultural venues is restricted unless an individual can provide official documentation that they’re either fully vaccinated or have recovered from the COVID-19 virus.
The mayor’s honesty and integrity were both brought into question when his colleague Anna-Elisabeth von Treuenfels-Frowein, a lawmaker for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), submitted an information request to the Hamburg Senate which ultimately revealed that the number of unvaccinated individuals infected with COVID-19 was significantly lower than Tschentscher had claimed.
Epidemiological data from calendar week 35 — which began on Aug. 30 and ended on Sept. 5 — that was released by the Senate showed that 68.3 percent of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated. More recently, however, a mere 14.3 of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 were unvaccinated. The figures were further skewed by the fact that all cases where the patient’s vaccination status had been unknown were included in the unvaccinated category.
Despite the Hamburg mayor claiming in a press conference on Nov. 16, 2021 that 95 percent of the cases of infected people were unvaccinated during calendar week 45, the data released by the state’s Senate at the behest of Treuenfels-Frowein’s request revealed that 63.2 percent of patients infected with COVID-19 had an unknown vaccination status, 22.5 percent were vaccinated, and 14.3 percent were unvaccinated.
When asked by the German newspaper BILD how 14.3 percent became 95 percent, and how the actual data justified the 2G rule that he imposed, Tschentscher replied, saying: “If there has been any uncertainty, I very much regret it. I assure the people of Hamburg that our recommendations are very well-founded.”
“One reason seems to be the use of different IT systems that provide different categories for the vaccination status. In addition, the rapidly increasing number of infections could no longer be classified quickly enough,” Tschentscher added.
Wolfgang Kubicki, FDP vice chairman and member of Germany’s federal parliament, has rejected the mayor’s excuses and believes his claims were deliberately deceptive.
“It is unbelievable and a disaster for trust in the integrity of state action when a state government clearly presents manipulated figures. Mayor Tschentscher will have to explain himself to parliament and should say why the Hamburg Senate considers it necessary to deceive its citizens with such tricks,” Kubicki said.
Treuenfels-Frowein also slammed the mayor, saying: “I consider this approach to be irresponsible. Anyone who, among other things, interferes with fundamental rights based on incorrect numbers should not be surprised if their acceptance among Hamburgers is rapidly declining. I would go one step further: Anyone who does this is legally responsible.”
Meanwhile, pressure continues to build on the unvaccinated. Despite Chancellor Angela Merkel and all major chancellor candidates promising no vaccine mandates in the run-up to federal elections, all have now backtracked and openly support mandatory vaccination.
