Angela Merkel warned of energy emergency after offering US 'dirty deal' for Nord Stream 2

Chief economist at the Centre for European Reform Christian Odendahl recently wrote on Twitter, attaching a picture of a survey by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Approval rating of Merkel‘s government is in free fall, on the back of the vaccine disaster and mishandling of the second wave."

The graph shows that only 49 percent of voters now believe Mrs Merkel's government is doing a good job at handling the crisis.

On the other hand, 42 percent of voters are critical – up from 15 percent in August.

Mr Odendahl added on Twitter: "This is not bad news just for Jens Spahn [the German Health Minister].