Until five weeks ago, the corona pandemic was the "biggest challenge since the Second World War" (Angela Merkel), which was the top priority of politics for two years.

Now Russia's attack on Ukraine has pushed the virus into the background in this country too, and the cassandra from virologists and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach that we could face another bad autumn if we let go of all caution too soon are less heard than never before.

It's a dangerous mix: a war whose dramatic effects make concerns about the health system being overwhelmed seem almost like a luxury problem for the West.

And a virus that has so far taken advantage of social carelessness and political fickleness.

The virologists have been shouting it from the rooftops for many months: Only vaccinations protect against severe courses and reduce the risk of infection.

Younger people can also become seriously ill if they are not vaccinated, especially older and sick people.

It's too late to react again in the fall, when the number of infections and deaths should rise drastically due to a new mutant.

And even on warm summer nights, masks and distance can help prevent a seventh or eighth wave of infections from running through the country.

All of this has been known for a long time.

Nevertheless, the mask requirement in 14 of 16 federal states will largely fall this weekend, a general vaccination requirement from the age of 18 has failed and it is questionable whether there will be a majority for a vaccination requirement from the age of 50.

And this in the knowledge that the vaccination rate in many age groups is still too low.

Politicians shy away from sustainable strategy

But the Germans are tired of the pandemic.

Despite immense incidences, the health system has not yet collapsed, and the virus has lost some of its terror, at least for those who have been fully vaccinated.

The current wave of infections also seems to have peaked.

All of this contributes to the widespread feeling that the gloom and masks must finally be over, and isn't summer just around the corner anyway?

In view of the reduced public pressure, politicians are gratefully seizing the opportunity to shy away from a sustainable strategy for fighting the pandemic that not only looks at six weeks, but six months.

Then you can see what comes in the fall.

It's true: the federal and state governments have had other concerns since the war, which also put a lot of the pandemic into perspective.

Nonetheless, vigilance remains warranted.

If, in addition to horrendous energy prices and an impending recession, a new virus variant were to hit many unvaccinated people in autumn, the lamentation as to why people were too careless for the third summer in a row should be great.

But because the federal and state governments are messing around in pandemic policy, the personal responsibility of Germans is becoming all the more important.

Anyone who continues to wear a mask voluntarily when things get tight, who still gets vaccinated even if it is not compulsory, finally: those who have not yet dismissed the virus as defeated can do a lot to ensure that we do not have a virus even without clear announcements from Berlin bad winter is imminent.