because sitting. in for migrants your platform for reliable information. this is stupid you news live from berlin time to hurry up german leaders agree to accelerate and extend the troubled vaccination program. chancellor angela merkel and regional leaders decided to give vaccines to more people more quickly but was infection spiking again and she said germany must be ready to impose a new lockout. germany honors the scientists who brought hope to the world by

developing the 1st covert 19 vaccine biotech founders of those then trichy and who are shaheen to get the german the order of merit. u.s. president joe biden condemns what he calls a skyrocketing spike in anti asian violence in the united states the president tells asian american leaders that in atlanta the u.s. cannot stand silent as the city mourns the victims of choose days deadly gun attacks on asian massage parlors. welcome to the program german chancellor angela merkel says her country faces a potential new lockdown if case numbers continue to rise she was speaking after a virtual summit to discuss the country's 2. vaccination program. national and

regional leaders agreed to measures to speed up the process but they're under pressure as a over the slow vaccine rollout grows. another rebirth for jim and i call on balance temple health and port was used to bring in food to the city's west during the cold war after closure it has refugees during the 25th crisis and now it's being used as a massive vaccination center. those who he had to get a shot have to shut proof they're eligible. and i received an invitation to die i've been waiting for this that i came here immediately. but until now that teacher is one of relatively few germans to be vaccinated the country's been facing vaccine shortages since it launched its program in december so far only priority groups such as the elderly have received a jab but the government says it is expecting vaccine supplies to increase from my

prolonged allowing mess to begin. to vaccinate as many people as we can as quickly and flexibly as possible in the 2nd quarter of 2021 in germany now slogan that night vex night and then vaccinate some more. under the plans family doctors will be sent vaccine doses. and allowed to decide which of their patients a most in need of protection against 19 and areas along the country's borders with france and the czech republic were receive more doses case dumbass they have been especially high because of the infection numbers in germany's now because. that's a huge we've received more devices than planned from the a year. and they go into border areas which have a lot of cases of specific. but even as the german chancellor promised relief to

calm she warned that the situation in the countries covered wards is worsening since german leaders decided to partially relax lockdown measures in early march infections have been rising shop lee experts are warning tougher measures are inevitable merkel agrees. with seeing exponential growth and an odd number far above why would we great to stop these relaxations if infection rates get too high well unfortunately have to do so. in recent weeks some german high streets of reopen juta that relaxed lock down soon they could again be forced to close and with widespread vaccination still a government promise it's uncertain when the country will be back to normal. and for more on this joint nobody'd of your correspondent thomas sparrow tell us let's start with that 3rd wave that germany is facing why are we facing such

a rapid rise in corona virus infection when it seemed just a few weeks ago the numbers were falling. it's not only a rapid rise in it it's an exponential growth of this particularly concerning for german authorities we heard on the stress just how difficult a situation nowadays is and why probably germany will go back to strict lockdown in fact for german cities like the city of how book already reversed some of those opening steps that we saw in the last few weeks when we look at the reasons one of the key reasons is the presence of those more contagious variants here in germany in particular that the 117 variant which was 1st found in the united kingdom and which now accounts for over 70 percent of tested samples here in germany to give you a bit of context at the beginning of february that percentage was around 6 percent so this gives you a clear idea of why the brits are of particular concern a 2nd issue with germany's border regions we also saw that in that report but the

fact is that many of germany's neighbors are also badly affected by the coronavirus or at least regions of some of those neighboring countries the french region of moselle for example or to roll in out in austria or the czech republic it's the 2nd reason and the 3rd reason is obviously the opening steps that we already discussed opening steps come with more contacts more contacts no money come with more infections so this gives you an idea of why the situation in germany is now so difficult not only the general situation but also for for authorities to decide what the next steps will be sure is ok worsening situation obviously one of the solutions very close putting forward is to allow family doctors to begin giving the vaccines but with only a 1000000 doses available to general practitioners in the 1st week that makes around 20 doses per doctor how does that change anything. well if if you're expecting a very rapid change then probably you'll be disappointed but the g.p.'s of family

doctors will play a very important role when it comes for example to gaining more flexibility in the process that's something i was stressed by angela merkel in which is an important point to for example go beyond that very strict guidelines as being vaccinated when so certainly want to lament which is important here is the flexibility another element which plays an important role when it comes to family doctors or g.p.'s is trust trust has been affected in the call vaccination program which has been very slow and you know that g.p.'s have a very good relationships normally with their own patients so they will hopefully be able to increase trust in the vaccine particularly astra zeneca vaccine so it's not only about speed and it's also about increasing trust it's also about increasing flexibility in a vaccination program which has been criticised since it began last year in december and just really quickly thomas german generally are quite frustrated with the back and forth and lockdowns the slow rollout they are

frustrated that's something that we saw this week also in a poll most germans are actually very critical of germany's current management and that's essentially why german chancellor angela merkel and the leaders met on friday here in berlin why they're actually going again next week because they understand that there's frustration they understand that that's fatigue and they need to change the situation as quickly as possible ok thomas sparrow reporting for us on the reaction of the pandemic in vaccine rollout thanks so much. here's a look at some of the other developments in the pandemic a month long coronavirus lockdown has gone into effect in terrace and other french regions as the country tries to beat back a 3rd wave of infections a 3rd senator has died of covert 19 in brazil raising questions around precautions taken in the country's congress up to a 3rd of lawmakers may have been infected there and the philippines has recorded a record daily increase in code 19 infections authorities have tightened

restrictions in the capital manila the country has approved russia's sputnik 5 vaccine for emergency use and stay with corona virus but happier news journey has germany has honored the scientists who developed the 1st in 1000 vaccine the founders of a drug company by on tech have been awarded the order of merit they achieve their lifesaving breakthrough largely by starting work on a vaccine before their rivals. it's an award full service is to the nation and yet this couple's extraordinary achievement tests global dimensions. groundbreaking discovery is saving lives in life the hooks. it's ensuring social economic and cultural survival. that you didn't time a person inspect the native we take a small step back towards normal life towards the life we made and the people we love. if you're leaving because of this i'm certain seldom

has a scientific achievement of such existential importance been recognized in this palace . was shining founded by on take in 2008 at their company's headquarters in mines they and their team had been working on the next generation cancer treatment for more than a decade using m.r.i. a technology that was until news from china emerged about doc just discovering a mysterious new virus spreading rapidly in the city of. at 1st the world didn't pay much attention. to it she did even before the world health organization issued its 1st major warning the biotech team started working around the clock less than a year later their vaccine was approved in many countries around the world. that not only earned them one of germany's tires on the us but also thank you letters from around the globe. we saw grandparents reunited with their grandchildren

doctors and nurses that no longer needed to be worried about their relatives when i read messages like these i can say the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. for ted. but to end the pandemic shine emphasizes one last big concerted effort is necessary he appealed to people to remain cautious. side through this 2 thirds of the way are already behind us one 3rd is ahead and i'm absolutely sure that if we can do this we will get the pandemic under control. like everyone else shine and surety will then be able to return to normal everyday life and for them that means getting back to work on their own original mission of developing a new treatment for cancer. let's take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world. a long dormant volcano in southwestern iceland has erupted for the 1st time in nearly 800 years it

came out for thousands of small earthquakes in the region in recent weeks the area is a seismic hotspot and just 40 kilometers from the capital reykjavik all air traffic has been halted. mass evacuations have been ordered in eastern australia as torrential rains caused potentially life threatening flooding authorities are telling people in sydney to stay home the rains are expected to continue. u.s. president joe biden and vice president campbell harris have condemned anti asian violence in the u.s. which has spiked since the start of the coronavirus pandemic 5 and implicitly blamed former president donald trump for stoking hate by calling the code 19 the china virus biden's comments came during a visit to atlanta or a gunman killed 8 people in the us on tuesday 6 were of asian descent. america was shaken with these scenes from just

a few days ago 8 people were gunned down at 3 different massage parlors in and around atlanta by alleged shooter robert aaron long most of those killed were of asian descent and according to local asian american leaders are just one example of a rising tide of attacks against asian americans the situation has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic which started in asia. even though the motive of the alleged killer is not clear u.s. president joe biden who met with local asian american leaders in atlanta on friday said change is needed. but we have to change our hearts. hague can have no safe harbor in america it must stop. it's on all of us all of us together to make it stop police say the suspect denies racism as a motive instead he said he did it to end his sex addiction and attentive ation of

massage parlors whatever the motivation we know this too many asian americans have been walking up and down the streets and were waking up each morning the past year feeling their safety and the safety of their loved ones are at stake they've been attacked plain scapegoated harassed they've been virtually assaulted physically assaulted killed. the suspect has confessed to the crimes and has been charged with murder in all 8 deaths. and you are of course watching t.v. news live from berlin we'll have more headlines for you at the top of the hour we'll leave you now though with art from new york and a new show from dutch creator ileus horst hausa it features massive digital protect projections of fractals infinitely repeating geometric shapes spicer thanks for watching.

the fight against the corona virus pandemic. has the rate of infection been developing. measures are being taken. what is the latest research so. information and context.

the coronavirus a. special monday to friday.