Lockdowns, mass tests, protective masks – the FPÖ had something to complain about in every corona measure taken by the federal government. And tried to publicly see doubt about it. When it comes to vaccination, it is no different: “Everyone should get vaccinated – if he thinks that it will do him good. What I think nothing of is this vaccination propaganda. This promise that everything will change now and everything will be fine if as many people as possible get vaccinated as quickly as possible. ”FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl said this in an interview with oe24 owner Wolfgang Fellner in April of this year. The quote gives a good insight into the attitude of the party chairman to corona vaccinations. He and his party are vying for vaccination skeptics – and in the end they did not even shy away from clear fake news.
Also FPÖ TV, the television station of the Freedom Party, fuels fears and skepticism about the vaccination. With dubious methods: In a video from October 30, 2021, the blue propaganda channel addressed the increasing numbers of vaccinated Covid-19 patients in hospitals. Their goal: to question the effectiveness of the vaccination. More than 700,000 people saw the video on the Facebook page of FPÖ club boss Kickl alone. To underpin the claims, FPÖ TV used a quote from the well-known German epidemiologist Alexander Kekulé, which was faded in at the beginning of the almost six-minute video: “We will get a wave of the vaccinated.” Kekulé actually has this statement made an interview with the German medium ntv. However, he also added: “Yes, someone who is vaccinated is less contagious. And also less contagious. “
Kekulé: “Completely bogus claim”
In any case, epidemiologist Kekulé, who is probably one of the most prominent Corona experts in Germany, cannot gain anything from the FPÖ’s use of his statement. The expert from the German University of Halle explains to profil: “A quote was taken out of context in the video to support a completely absurd claim. ”It is true, however,“ that vaccinated people also contribute significantly to the infection process and also to the burden on the clinics, ”says Kekulé. These infections would usually be mild or asymptomatic. However, this would make many vaccinated people feel safe and therefore be more careless. The epidemiologist explains: “With this argument, vaccination critics want to justify, as is also done in the video, that the Covid vaccination would be pointless overall. However, that is not correct: the vaccination protects very well against severe disease, hospitalization and death. That is why it can massively reduce the burden on the health system. ”It also reduces the spread of the virus in the population, from which vaccinated, convalescent and unvaccinated people benefit.
Conclusion
The ntv news portal also used Alexander Kekulé’s statement, but the connections were explained in the course of the interview – FPÖ TV did not. With the quote, the station assumes that a well-known epidemiologist is of the opinion that vaccinations against the coronavirus would be of no use and that there would therefore be a wave of infection among those vaccinated. However, according to Kekulé, the vaccination protects “very well” against serious illness, hospitalization and death. This means that the quote used by FPÖ TV is correct in its wording, but it is in this context misleading. Neither FPÖ TV nor the Freedom Party wanted to make a statement about the deception.
Incidentally, a debate about Kekulé has flared up on another front. For the time being, the scientist is no longer allowed to teach at the University of Halle. Disciplinary proceedings are pending against him. He is said to have taught and researched too little.
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