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A pediatrician vaccinates a one-year-old child against measles in the thigh in August 2019
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
The measles vaccination requirement is constitutional.
This was announced by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
The measles vaccination requirement for daycare children, among other things, remains in force.
The Federal Constitutional Court rejected several lawsuits from affected families, as announced in Karlsruhe on Thursday.
The encroachments on fundamental rights are reasonable in order to protect particularly vulnerable people from infection.
Four families had complained about the compulsory vaccination, which has been in force in Germany for around two and a half years.
Parents see compulsory vaccination as a disproportionate encroachment on their children's fundamental right to physical integrity and their own right to bring up children.
Compulsory vaccination should one day help to eradicate measles altogether.
Experts assume that the highly contagious virus only has no chance if at least 95 percent of the population has been vaccinated across the board.
That has not yet been achieved.
The focus is primarily on community facilities such as day-care centers and schools.
Since March 1, 2020, day care centers have only been allowed to admit children from the age of one if they are vaccinated or have already had the measles.
The same rules apply to childminders.
Employees in day care centers and schools must also be vaccinated against measles.
Parents of children who are already in care had until July 31, 2022 to submit proof.
No child is excluded from school because of compulsory education.
However, parents face fines of up to 2500 euros.
kha/dpa/AFP
