Spahn's mask disaster: millions for pandemic policy!

Spahn's mask disaster: millions for pandemic policy!

Berlin, Deutschland - in Berlin, the minds, and not without reason: Jens Spahn, the former health minister and CDU politician, is now in the focus of the Bundestag after the special investigator Margaretha Sudhof has asked him in connection with the mask procurement during the Corona pandemic. The pressure is growing, because the allegations are serious: Spahn is said to have procured million masks in the summer of 2020 without needs analysis and price negotiations, while he ignored both warnings of his civil servants and has open legal disputes with suppliers, such as Radio Bielefeld reports.

The follow -up costs for oversetting masks increase by a whopping 57 million euros to a total of 517 million euros in 2024. For the years 2025 to 2027, further obligations of over 67 million euros are expected. The Federal Audit Office also has no suitable distribution concept for the approximately 800 million protective masks that will be available in 2024.

a shadow over the decisions

The scandal is drawing bigger and bigger circles. The Federal Audit Office emphasizes that "massive overschaking" of protective equipment took place during the pandemic. According to reports, Spahn had severely interfered in the mask purchases and preferred to treat people close to it. Of the 5.9 billion euros issued by 2024, only 1.7 billion can be distributed in Germany for 5.8 billion masks. The rest, more than half, has either already been destroyed or still has to be disposed of, as the Tagesschau notes.

The opposition asks intensively about the warnings that Spahn had received in terms of the risks of his soloing in the procurement. The Sudhof report, which was initially partly blackened, criticizes the award of the order to a Swiss company and the election of a logistics company from Spahn's home region.

The reactions of the political actors

GREEN and LINKE are calling for an investigation committee for the extensive review of the events, while Spahn does not see such a session. He considers an Enquete Commission to be a better way. The CDU, on the other hand, is firmly behind Spahn and considers the allegations in the Sudhof report to have already been processed. According to Carsten Linnemann, the CDU general secretary, all points have been clarified.

But the waves are high: Spahn emphasizes that the decisions were made under the chaotic conditions of pandemic and that a regular bureaucracy was not possible. At the same time, the Greens' health politicians point out that targeted blackening in the report should disguise the responsibility of Spahn and others.

in the context of the crisis

All these political turbulence are in a larger context. Covid-19 pandemic is not just a health problem, but a social experiment, as described in the project "Crisis Management and Resilience-Corona" of the Fraunhofer Institute. In this analysis, political decisions are examined in response to pandemic and their effects are examined on various social systems, including economy, population protection and security. The findings are intended to help evaluate the effectiveness of measures and improve future strategies, such as on Fraunhofer ISI.

Jens Spahn's political responsibility remains a sensitive topic that goes far beyond the individual procurement. The coming weeks will show whether a comprehensive information can prevail in this chaotic banter.