There is a high rate of infections in areas where they vote for the extreme right, according to a study

The constituencies in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) garnered the most votes in 2017 documented more COVID-19 infections in 2020, according to a study published this Friday.

Scientists from Research Institute for Social Cohesion and from Centro Helmholtz from Munich they excluded that other factors, such as the number of schools or teleworking numbers, could have influenced the correlation.

“In the districts where the AfD obtained one more percentage point, the incidence during the initial phase of the first wave was, on average, 2.2 points higher,” the sociologist highlighted Christoph Richter, one of the authors of the study, quoted by the weekly “Spiegel”.

The research started from the premise that in the regions where the extreme right has more support, the population is more skeptical about democratic institutions and complies with the measures to a lesser extent. anti-covid.

The scientists analyzed 411 constituencies, taking into account a variety of demographic and health factors, concluding that in those where the AfD received more votes, more covid infections were registered in both waves of 2020.

In the federal states of Saxony and Thuringia (east), where the AfD it tends to obtain results above 20%, the incidence is particularly high at the time and the vaccination rate lower than that of the rest of the country.

“The sometimes advocated assumption that this connection is a phenomenon limited to East Germany could not be confirmed.” However, the study authors stated that they did not find a similar correlation for any other political party.

Although the investigation did not use current data, in view of the current epidemic situation, it is to be assumed that the phenomenon is manifesting itself even more strongly, Richter said, quoted by the channel. NTV.

“This is demonstrated by the debate on the willingness to be vaccinated in regions that currently have particularly high incidences”, he claimed.

A poll by the opinion institute Forsa With a sample of 3,000 people, published on November 11 pointed out that two thirds of the unvaccinated vote for the AfD or the denialist party La Base.

According to this result, the percentage of extremist votes among the unvaccinated is five times higher than among the total population.