Robert Koch Institute Files

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The Robert Koch Institute Files, or RKI Files, are a series of internal documents, primarily meeting minutes, from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) COVID-19 crisis management team. A first batch of documents, extending from January 2020 to April 2021, was released in heavily redacted form in March 2024 by the RKI following a Freedom of Information  [ de ] request by journalist Paul Schreyer  [ de ]. In July 2024, journalist Aya Velázquez released the fully unredacted documents from 2020 to 2023, which were leaked to her by a whistleblower at the RKI. The documents detail the deliberations of the RKI team in charge of the crisis response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. The revealed documents sparked an ongoing controversy in Germany, where critics question the political influence on the RKI, and the extent to which measures against COVID-19 followed scientific evidence or political criteria.

Contents

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany has resulted in 38,437,756 [1] confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 174,979 [1] deaths. During the pandemic, the German government received advice from several scientific bodies including the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) at the Robert Koch Institute, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and the German Ethics Council. [2] [3]

Publication

In May 2021, Paul Schreyer  [ de ], journalist and founder of Multipolar  [ de ], filed a Freedom of Information Act  [ de ] request for the release of all minutes of the Robert Koch Institute COVID-19 crisis team. The RKI released the minutes for the period from January 2020 to April 2021. The released documents were heavily redacted, and Schreyer initiated a challenge of the redactions in Court. [4] [5] In May 2024, these documents were published on the RKI website in a less redacted edition. [5] Multipolar filed a request for the release of documents since May 2021, which were not included in the releases so far. [6]

On 23 July 2024, Berlinese journalist Aya Velázquez published a 10GB cache of internal RKI documents. The collection includes fully unredacted RKI crisis team meeting minutes from 2020 to 2023. According to Velázquez, the source of the documents was a RKI employee. The documents were presented in a press conference streamed on X, [7] and it was coordinated with other journalists, such as Philippe Debionne from the Schwäbische Zeitung, who had prior access to the material. [8]

On 7 August 2024, the RKI published a note condemning the "illegal publication" of the RKI documents, and recommending that those affected by the lack of redaction of the documents contact the RKI delegate for data protection. [9]

Contents

The documents cover deliberations of the COVID-19 crisis team at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) about a wide range of topics related to the German government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those highlighted by German media are vaccination policies, lockdowns and mask mandates. [8]

"Pandemic of the unvaccinated"

On 3 November 2021, Ministry of Health Jens Spahn (CDU), stated that Germany was facing a massive "pandemic of the unvaccinated." [10] [11] [12] RKI minutes of 5 November stated that the "pandemic of the unvaccinated" terminology was technically incorrect, but that it would probably be not possible to correct it because Spahn used it very frequently. [11] [13] [12]

In den Medien wird von einer Pandemie der Ungeimpften gesprochen. Aus fachlicher Sicht nicht korrekt. Gesamtbevölkerung trägt bei. Soll das in Kommunikation aufgegriffen werden? [...] Dient als Appell an alle, die nicht geimpft sind, sich impfen zu lassen. Sagt Minister bei jeder Pressekonferenz, vermutlich bewusst, kann eher nicht korrigiert werden.
Media speak of a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Not correct from a specialist point of view. Whole population is contributing. Should this be taken up in communications? [...] Serves as a call on everyone who is not vaccinated to get vaccinated. Minister says this at every press conference, presumably deliberately, can more likely not be corrected.

—RKI minutes, 5 November 2021, page 8 [11]

The Schwäbische Zeitung highlighted this passage, noting how this narrative was quickly adopted by other politicians and journalists, and that this would later be used to justify restrictive measures targeted at unvaccinated people. [11] The Berliner Zeitung also covered this story, and claimed those who were mistreated for not getting a vaccine, and those who got coerced into getting it, have the right to information on this. [13] The Berliner Morgenpost considered that while the sentence was a simplification, it was still roughly correct. [14] Der Spiegel put forward multiple interpretations for the "pandemic of the unvaccinated", justifying its use at the time, and noting its previous usage by the United States CDC and Joe Biden. [12]

On 10 August 2024, Andreas Gassen  [ de ], president of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, criticized the stigmatization of unvaccinated people and called for an investigation committee. [15]

On 22 August 2024, Frauke Rostalski  [ de ], a member of the German Ethics Council, told Die Zeit that the RKI files demonstrated that the Government took decisions related to the right to freedom that were based on evidence that was known to be outdated. [16]

On 3 September 2024, in a legal action by a nursing assistant who was banned from entry to her workplace in 2022 due to failure to provide a vaccination proof, the Third Chamber of the Osnabrück Administrative Court submitted the case to the Federal Constitutional Court based on the revelations of the RKI minutes. [17] [18] [19]

Reactions

There have been calls for the resignation of Karl Lauterbach by Wolfgang Kubicki, deputy of the Free Democratic Party and Vice President of the Bundestag, [20] Burkhard Ewert  [ de ] of the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung . [21]

On 21 August 2024, the ombudsman of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation stated that the Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen should have covered the RKI documents controversy in March 2024. [22]

The media regulator of North Rhine-Westphalia initiated administrative action against Multipolar. [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 Mathieu, Edouard; Ritchie, Hannah; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas; Appel, Cameron; Giattino, Charlie; Hasell, Joe; Macdonald, Bobbie; Dattani, Saloni; Beltekian, Diana; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Roser, Max (2020–2024). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data . Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  2. ↑ Schöps, Corinna (9 November 2020). "Die mit dem höchsten Risiko zuerst" [Those with the highest risk to be first]. Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  3. ↑ Groll, Tina (9 November 2020). "Medizinisches Personal und Risikogruppen sollen zuerst geimpft werden" [Medical personnel and risk groups to be vaccinated first]. Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  4. ↑ Berndt, Christina; Grill, Markus; Heck, Jana; Kampf, Lena; Ludwig, Kristiana (29 March 2024). "Coronapolitik: Hang zur Selbstzensur" [Corona policy: tendency towards self-censorship]. Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  5. 1 2 Maier, Michael. "Lauterbach zu RKI-Protokollen: "Zu verbergen gibt es trotzdem nichts"" [Lauterbach on RKI protocols: “There is still nothing to hide”]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 24 July 2024.
  6. ↑ Metzger, Nils (28 March 2024). "RKI-Protokolle: Schwarze Stellen ade?" [RKI protocols: goodbye black spots?]. ZDFheute (in German). Archived from the original on 9 April 2024.
  7. ↑ Schneeberger, Ruth (23 July 2024). "Das wird Lauterbach nicht gefallen: RKI-Files komplett entschwärzt veröffentlicht" [Lauterbach won’t like this: RKI files published completely redacted]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 23 July 2024.
  8. 1 2 Debionne, Philippe (24 July 2024). "Corona: Was die Regierung vor den Deutschen verheimlichte" [Corona: What the government hid from the Germans]. Schwäbische Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 23 August 2024.
  9. ↑ "Benachrichtigung der von einer Verletzung des Schutzes personenbezogener Daten betroffenen Personen nach Art. 34 Abs. 3 lit. c) Datenschutz-Grundverordnung: Rechtswidrige Veröffentlichung der RKI-Krisenstabsprotokolle sowie weiterer Dokumente (07.08.2024)". Robert Koch Institute. 7 August 2024. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024.
  10. ↑ "Coronavirus-Pandemie: Was geschah wann?" [Coronavirus pandemic: What happened when?]. Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (in German). Archived from the original on 24 July 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Debionne, Philippe (24 July 2024). "Corona: Das Märchen von der "Pandemie der Ungeimpften"" [Corona: The fairy tale of the "pandemic of the unvaccinated"]. Schwäbische Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 2 August 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 Aé, Julian; Bonnen, Christopher; Hassenkamp, Milena; Merlot, Julia; Schlak, Martin (24 July 2024). "Worum es in der Diskussion über die »Pandemie der Ungeimpften« geht" [What the discussion about the "pandemic of the unvaccinated" is about]. Der Spiegel (in German). Archived from the original on 24 July 2024.
  13. 1 2 Schneeberger, Ruth (13 August 2024). "RKI-Files: Wer übernimmt jetzt die Verantwortung?" [RKI Files: Who takes responsibility now?]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 14 August 2024.
  14. ↑ Bünte, Ben (24 July 2024). "RKI-Protokolle: Der Satz, den Spahn besser nicht gesagt hätte". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Archived from the original on 11 August 2024.
  15. ↑ "KBV-Chef beklagt Stigmatisierung von Ungeimpften" [KBV chief complains about stigmatization of unvaccinated people]. n-tv (in German). 10 August 2024. Archived from the original on 11 August 2024.
  16. ↑ Anderl, Sibylle; Wefing, Heinrich. ""Eine Impfung ist nicht nur ein Pieks"" [“A vaccination is not just a jab”]. Die Zeit (in German). Archived from the original on 5 September 2024.
  17. ↑ "Verwaltungsgericht Osnabrück legt Bundesverfassungsgericht Entscheidung über einrichtungs- und unternehmensbezogene Nachweispflicht vor". Osnabrück Administrative Court (in German). 3 September 2024. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024.
  18. ↑ Schwager, Christian (3 September 2024). "Höchstgericht soll entscheiden: Verletzte die einrichtungsbezogene Impfpflicht Grundrechte?" [Supreme Court to decide: Did the facility-based vaccination requirement violate fundamental rights?]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 3 September 2024.
  19. ↑ Schwager, Christian (4 September 2024). "Einrichtungsbezogene Impfpflicht: Deshalb hält sie ein Gericht für verfassungswidrig" [Facility-based vaccination requirement: This is why a court considers it unconstitutional]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 4 September 2024.
  20. ↑ "RKI-Files: "Das ist schon irre"" [RKI files: “This is crazy”]. Cicero (in German). Archived from the original on 13 August 2024.
  21. ↑ Ewert, Burkhard (16 August 2024). "Die RKI-Protokolle können nur eine Folge haben: Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Lauterbach!" [The RKI protocols can only have one consequence: Goodbye, Mr Lauterbach!]. Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 19 August 2024.
  22. ↑ "SRF hätte über RKI-Protokolle berichten müssen" [SRF should have reported on RKI protocols]. SRG (in German). 21 August 2024. Archived from the original on 22 August 2024.
  23. ↑ Schneeberger, Ruth (29 August 2024). "RKI-Protokolle: Warum die Medienaufsicht gegen Multipolar vorgeht" [RKI protocols: Why the media regulator is taking action against Multipolar]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 29 August 2024.

See also

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