Deaths in old people's and nursing homes are a major problem in the corona pandemic.
Does compulsory vaccination help the nurses?
Markus Söder does not give up.
Munich / Berlin -
Germany
is
still not
getting the
corona crisis
under control -
Chancellor Angela Merkel
(CDU) is apparently already talking internally of a lockdown until shortly before Easter.
Last but not least, experts currently see the
situation in old people's homes
as a main problem.
This is exactly what encourages
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder
to play thoughts about
compulsory vaccination for nursing staff
.
But the initiative of the CSU boss is initially met with a lot of criticism.
Söder for mandatory vaccination in the care sector: "Compare measles with Corona ..."
According to initial statements from the weekend *, Söder added on Tuesday.
"We have to think about whether we should particularly increase the protection for the particularly highly sensitive areas, that is the old people's and nursing homes," he said in the ZDF "Morgenmagazin", also in view of the continued high number of deaths.
If you hear and read that few
nurses
want to be
vaccinated
there
, you have to discuss it.
"The German Ethics Council should deal with it," said Söder.
For some contagious diseases, such as
measles
, there is already a compulsory vaccination.
"If you compare measles with corona, the danger and importance of corona is of course much higher," he said.
That is why there is now a need for a social debate and a parallel
vaccination campaign
to increase the general
willingness to vaccinate
.
"There will be and should not be a general compulsory vaccination," stressed Söder at the same time.
Söder proposal: compulsory for nurses?
Minister Heil strictly against it - "Prohibited"
But
Angela Merkel's cabinet
quickly came up against it:
Labor Minister Hubertus Heil
(SPD) explicitly rejects compulsory vaccinations for nursing staff in old people's and nursing homes.
“It is forbidden to speculate about compulsory vaccination at the moment,” said Heil on Tuesday morning in the RTL and n-tv program “Frühstart”.
He considers the previous
decision against compulsory vaccination
to be correct.
“Above all, I want vaccination acceptance.
Now it is a matter of explaining that vaccination is important, ”said Heil.
You have to advertise it to nurses and doctors.
There was also
criticism
from the
German Foundation for Patient
Protection.
The discussion about compulsory vaccination for nursing professions distracts from the actual problem, said board member Eugen Brysch of the dpa.
"Such a sharpness plays into the hands of opponents of vaccinations." Vaccinations are important to cope with the corona pandemic.
But there are far too few vaccination offers.
"Likewise, current outbreaks of infections in nursing homes prevent vaccinations from being carried out." Brysch also emphasized: "It is currently unclear whether people who have been vaccinated are immune or whether they can pass the virus on."
Söder in the criticism: thought of mandatory vaccination "comes at the wrong time"
In addition, the
German Association of Cities
expressed itself
negative.
Although he understands that the idea comes up, said its chief executive, Helmut Dedy, in the SWR2 “talk of the day”.
In the
nursing homes in
particular, there is a pronounced reluctance to vaccinate, in some cases only 30 percent of employees are willing to be vaccinated.
"I still believe the thought comes at the wrong time," he said.
They have not yet exhausted all possibilities
to do
persuasion
.
“And now to say we can't convince you, so we'll force you - that comes a little early on me.
I'm afraid the story can backfire, too, ”Dedy said.
He called on
employers
and
hospital sponsors
to convince their employees to vaccinate.
Virologist Alexander Kekulé also called for more ingenuity in fighting the corona virus on Monday evening, as
Merkur.de *
reported.
Söder himself has already announced a new measure: FFP2 masks are to be made mandatory in public transport and shops in Bavaria.
(
dpa / fn
) *
Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network
.
