Corona pandemic: Markus Söder calls for discussion about mandatory vaccination for nursing staff

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Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU): "Freedom only comes back through vaccinations"

Photo: Matthias Balk / dpa

General compulsory vaccination no - but in selected areas?

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder would like to have a mandatory vaccination for nurses checked.

"We have to discuss that," said the CSU boss on ZDF, referring to a relatively low willingness to vaccinate among nurses. 

»There will and should not be a general compulsory vaccination.

But we have to consider whether we should particularly increase the protection for the particularly highly sensitive areas - these are the old people's and nursing homes, "says Söder.

He referred to the special measures that are already in force there, such as preferential access to vaccinations and special testing requirements.

"But if we sense, hear and read there that very few of the nurses are vaccinated - too few - then we have to discuss it."

An ethical debate is necessary for this, said the Prime Minister.

The German Ethics Council should now deal with it.

A representative survey by SPIEGEL in November showed that over 62 percent of Germans would get vaccinated if the vaccine was available to them.

Vaccine skeptics are thus outnumbered in the general population.

Söder referred to the existing compulsory vaccination for other contagious diseases, such as measles.

In comparison, the risk from Corona is significantly higher.

"Vaccination is not just about protecting yourself, it's about protecting your neighbor." The need associated with this is greatest in old people's and nursing homes, he said.

In addition to the social debate, the voluntary willingness to vaccinate must also be increased, for example through a campaign, Söder continued.

He sees an explanation for the low level of willingness among nursing staff, for example, in the false information that "haunts" the Internet.

According to the Prime Minister, the willingness to vaccinate is higher among medically trained specialists.

Criticism from the coalition and the opposition

Other politicians expressed skepticism about Söder's move.

Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) reaffirmed the position of the federal government on RTL / ntv, which generally rejects an obligation to vaccinate.

"At the moment speculating about compulsory vaccination is forbidden," said Heil.

He believes that the path taken in Germany is the right one to forego compulsory vaccination enforcement.

The deputy leader of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Michael Theurer, described Söder's appeal as "completely irresponsible."

"The nerves are bare because of the catastrophic Bavarian crisis management", he speculated via Twitter and referred to the recent exchange between the Bavarian Minister of Health.

His FDP party colleague Volker Wissing assumed Söder was counterproductive and also wrote on Twitter that "nonsensical actionism" could undermine social acceptance.

The German Association of Cities also criticized the idea as "too early".

Managing Director Helmut Dedy said in the SWR2 »Tag Talk« that he understood Söder's idea in view of the reluctance of the nursing staff.

Sometimes only 30 percent of employees are willing to be vaccinated.

However, not all possibilities have yet been exhausted to persuade them.

"And now to say that we can't convince you, so we're forcing you - that comes a little early on me." He feared that this approach could "backfire".

Dedy called on employers and hospital sponsors to convince their employees instead that a vaccination was useful.

"Pharma-Land" Germany

Söder sees the biggest problem with the vaccination in the urgency with the limited vaccine at the same time.

He referred to 300 million additional doses of vaccine that the European Union had ordered.

“The crowd will be there in the end - but it's a race against time,” says Söder.

"Now let's be honest: We are a pharmaceutical country in Germany," he said.

It should be possible to use more production facilities for vaccine production, which can then "produce for Germany and all of Europe".

Investments in the vaccine are ultimately cheaper and more effective for the state than providing bridging aid.

"You see it all over the world: normality and the freedom that we all want much more can only come back through vaccinations," says Söder.

He praised the commissioning of a new plant of the vaccine manufacturer Biontech in Marburg, which is scheduled for February.

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