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Corona vaccination (symbolic image): Health authorities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are apparently overwhelmed
Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa
The health department is overloaded.
Therefore, Achim Froitzheim, spokesman for the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, told the dpa news agency on Tuesday evening that "we cannot fulfill the control and enforcement of mandatory vaccinations for employees in nursing homes and hospitals, for example."
But after the statements caused criticism in the Bundestag, among others, the district asserted that it did not want to go it alone.
The district said on Wednesday that it was never announced that it "did not want to implement compulsory vaccination".
»This is not even legally possible.
The district will not go it alone.« The district only referred to inquiries about problems with implementation.
With a view to the regulation decided in December, there are still too many unanswered questions, according to the district.
"The facility-related vaccination requirement would again mean a significant additional effort for the district, which was already under extreme pressure in the corona pandemic, which would be very difficult to achieve." The district is therefore waiting for specific instructions for implementation that are still outstanding.
Criticism from the Bundestag
The member of the Bundestag responsible for parts of Western Pomerania, Anna Kassautzki, had criticized the statements made on Tuesday evening.
"The announcement by the Vorpommern-Greifswald district that it does not want to enforce compulsory vaccination in the health and care sector is a breach of our democratic order," the SPD politician said on Wednesday.
The Schwerin Ministry of Health showed understanding. The ministry sees the fact that the district has declared that it cannot enforce compulsory vaccination as a call for help, spokesman Alexander Kujat said on Wednesday. »»Can« is a call for help – that's how we understood it too«. A breach of the law, on the other hand, would have been the statement »We will not implement it«. That is not the case, as the district has made clear again.
However, the health authorities of the other districts in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania do not see themselves in a position to control the compulsory corona vaccination for employees in hospitals, medical practices, facilities for the disabled and nursing homes.
The district council said this in a letter to Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD), as the managing director of the municipal umbrella organization, Matthias Köpp, told the dpa on Wednesday.
The broadcaster Ostseewelle reported first.
Employees permanently stressed
"The health authorities already have an extensive catalog of tasks, and the peak of the omicron wave is still rolling towards us," said Köpp.
The employees are under constant strain and a lot of overtime has accumulated.
With the facility-related vaccination requirement, a whole catalog of tasks is planned for the health authorities, according to Köpp.
For example, they should ban unvaccinated employees from working in the facilities and initiate fines.
The sector has around 70,000 employees in the northeast, said Köpp.
How many of them are still unvaccinated is unclear.
In mid-December, the so-called facility-related corona vaccination obligation was decided: Employees in facilities with vulnerable people such as clinics and nursing homes must prove by March 15, 2022 that they have been vaccinated against corona or have recovered from corona.
ptz/dpa