Germany’s management of covid-19 is growing shakier
As infections rise, state and national governments are bickering
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/sites/default/files/images/2021/03/articles/main/20210403_eup502.jpg)
A COMMUNIST-ERA joke, in updated form, has been doing the rounds on German social media. “Are there no vaccines here?” someone asks, to be told: “No, there are no vaccines over there. There are no tests here.” The gag captures the dismay many Germans feel about their state’s inability to fend off the third wave of the pandemic, even as other countries vaccinate their way towards freedom.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Who’s in charge?”
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