Before revision:  We found that in all scenarios restrictions can be lifted steadily -- at the pace of vaccination . Differences in restriction levels are only of short duration: If restrictions are lifted faster than the pace of vaccination , more freedom is gained only transiently until full intensive care units require installing restrictions again. Keeping case numbers at a low level instead a) reduces the number of fatalities considerably, b) allows to make full use of TTI programs and , in addition, c) offers a better preparedness if escape variants of the virus challenge the vaccination strategy.
After revision:  We found that in all scenarios restrictions can be lifted steadily -- at the pace of vaccination . Differences in restriction levels are only of short duration: If restrictions are lifted faster than the pace of vaccination determines the speed of lifting restrictions; all scenarios allow to steadily increase contacts starting in May 2021 and relax most restrictions by autumn 2021. Throughout summer, only moderate contact restrictions remain necessary. However, with the assumed vaccination protection, further waves among the unvaccinated population can only be avoided with high vaccine uptake (>90