Why is Germany struggling to stop a third-wave COVID crisis?

Authorities are being blamed for inflexible bureaucracy, a confused strategy over AstraZeneca, vaccine supply woes and inconsistent lockdown measures.

Berlin, Germany – Gerald Lehmann prides himself as a hands-on, common sense type of mayor. When he heard there were only 70 takers for the 100 vaccine doses that had been sent to Luckau’s hospital to inoculate doctors and medical staff, he called to see if the leftovers could be given to nursery school teachers. His proposal was sent to Brandenburg’s health ministry. The answer was no. There was a priority list and it had to be adhered to.