Debate about vaccination rights: Doctors criticize government plans to relax vaccinated people

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At some point it is true: on an apartment in Kassel in Hesse hangs a poster with the inscription "Everything will be fine"

Photo: Uwe Zucchi / dpa

Should people who have already been vaccinated twice no longer have to suffer from certain restrictions on freedom?

This question has been dividing doctors, politicians and police officers for weeks - now it is becoming acute.

Several federal states had already loosened restricted basic rights for vaccinated and convalescent people on their own, now a nationwide regulation is pending.

But in view of the upcoming easing, medical officers are now calling for people who have been vaccinated to continue to be tested for the corona virus, for example when entering Germany.

The police union (GdP) demands forgery-proof documents that recovered and vaccinated persons could show during controls.

And Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) criticized the federal government's plans as opaque and confusing.

"I still don't know what the federal legislature actually wants to regulate," said Ramelow, criticizing the federal government's plans in the "Rheinische Post".

Apart from the public debate fueled by "campaigning politicians", he is not yet aware of any clear submission from the federal government.

The current debate is causing a lot of confusion in society, said the Prime Minister.

No curfew, no contact restriction

Ramelow refers to a nationwide ordinance on the return of rights to vaccinated and convalescent people. The Union and the SPD agreed on a corresponding paper from Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) on Monday. That should be decided on Thursday in the Bundestag and on Friday in the Bundesrat, if the federal states go along with it.

If this happens, there could be easing for vaccinated people as early as the weekend: On the one hand, there is provision for legal equality between vaccinated and convalescent people with people who have tested negative.

Vaccinated and convalescent people should be allowed to go to shops, zoos or the hairdresser without a prior test.

In addition, the contact restrictions and exit restrictions should also be relaxed or lifted for them.

They do not have to be quarantined after traveling - unless they are coming from a virus variant area.

The obligation to wear a mask in certain places as well as the distance requirement in public spaces should continue to apply to everyone.

Doctors warn of the end of the test

Exactly when testing, however, there is detailed criticism. The chairman of the Federal Association of Doctors of the Public Health Service, Ute Teichert, told the newspapers of the Funke media group: "It would be fatal if vaccinated and convalescents were exempted from all test obligations, for example when entering the country." She said: "Without comprehensive tests we lose the overview of the infection process - especially with a view to virus variants. «Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had announced that in the future, when entering Germany, a complete vaccination certificate should be sufficient instead of a test.

The implementation also raises questions.

The deputy chairman of the GdP, Jörg Radek, said in the ARD “Nachtmagazin” with a view to police controls that the planned regulation must clearly state who should apply what to whom.

It must also be clear which papers people have to carry with them when it comes to Corona.

A good 28 percent of citizens in Germany have now been vaccinated against Corona at least once, as the Robert Koch Institute announced on Monday afternoon.

So far, eight percent of the population have full vaccination protection.

Lauterbach hopes for more vaccinations

The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach gave the all-clear.

In his own words, he expects an exponential decrease in the number of corona infections in mid or late May.

He told the merkur.de website: “The current corona numbers are so far due to the functioning emergency brake and not to vaccination.

That will only change when the rate of first vaccinations is between 40 and 60 percent. «Germany will be ready by the third or fourth week of May.

The president of the district assembly, Reinhard Sager, called for a quick vaccination of younger people.

"We see that younger people have shown solidarity for a long time, especially to protect the elderly," he told the newspapers of the Funke media group.

"Therefore, a vaccination offer must be made to them as soon as possible."

The human geneticist Wolfram Henn, a member of the German ethics council, told the Berliner Zeitung that it was time to take a look at the people who were most affected by the restrictions in their chances in life.

Children and adolescents would have to be the next priority group before vaccination comes for everyone.

mrc / dpa