Is vaccination compulsory in Germany? FDP clarifies its position - Söder went all out beforehand

More and more prime ministers are in favor of introducing compulsory vaccinations.

They also get support from legal experts and psychologists.

The news ticker.

• The debate in the corona crisis about the introduction of a general vaccination requirement in Germany is rocking ever higher.

• A well-known constitutional lawyer sees this as undoubtedly covered by the Basic Law.

• Several prime ministers are already signaling their approval.

• This news ticker is updated regularly.

Update from November 23, 8:33 p.m.:

When alleged plans for a partial vaccination requirement in Germany leaked from the traffic light probes last week, the debate took off. Because: Much - if not everything - depends on the plans that the future government is currently forging. Now the FDP parliamentary group has announced that it will speak to the SPD and the Greens about a possible vaccination requirement in facilities with people who are particularly at risk from Corona.

"The FDP parliamentary group attaches particular importance to a time limit and embedding it in a broad vaccination campaign," said a spokesman after deliberations with the parliamentary group on Tuesday (23 November).

"In consideration of the state encroachment on fundamental rights on the one hand and the special need for protection of vulnerable groups on the other hand, the FDP parliamentary group is in favor of entering into talks with the parliamentary groups of the SPD and the Greens about a facility-related vaccination obligation," said the spokesman.

That was the result of the faction's internal debate, which was intense.

In the past few days, FDP politicians have expressed themselves in very different ways about a possible vaccination requirement.

Corona: In a government statement, Söder is “finally” calling for a mandatory vaccination

Update from November 23, 3:20 p.m.:

The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) called in a government statement in the state parliament in Munich “finally” a compulsory vaccination.

"Let's finally introduce compulsory vaccinations in Germany - we have to make a decision for our country in the future," emphasized Söder.

He also commented on the high number of corona deaths in Germany in the state parliament: "If we were to observe a minute's silence for every corona death in Germany, we would need about ten weeks."

Compulsory vaccination: Bouffier considers it "constitutionally feasible" - Kretschmann sees it as a means against "polarization"

Update from November 23, 1.40 p.m.:

Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) considers a general vaccination requirement to be constitutionally feasible. He said that on Tuesday in Wiesbaden. It is important to make the regulation carefully - that cannot be done in two weeks. Bouffier reiterated his assessment that there is no way around compulsory vaccination to get the corona pandemic under control. Either you go from wave to wave with the corresponding restrictions, or you succeed in increasing the vaccination status, argued the Prime Minister.

When asked whether a vaccination requirement in Germany could come as quickly as in Austria, Bouffier said the date February 1, 2022 was "sporty".

But you should try to have "a very serious discussion" as quickly as possible, which will then also get to the point.

Bouffier emphasized that the freedom of the individual always finds its limit where the freedom of the other begins.

Corona vaccination obligation for "pacification"?

Kretschmann names means of implementation

Update from November 23, 1 p.m.:

From the point of view of Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann, a general vaccination requirement would not only help in the fight against the corona virus, but could also reduce the polarization of society. The state could thus attract the existing conflict between vaccination supporters and vaccination opponents, said the Green politician on Tuesday in Stuttgart. “So that the neighbors don't attack each other and attack each other.” It is extremely dangerous when the conflicts within society deepen more and more.

The introduction of compulsory vaccinations could not only represent a way out of the pandemic, but also pacify society in the medium term, said the head of government.

The debate must be conducted with the "rule of the better argument".

The mandatory vaccination could be implemented with fines, said Kretschmann.

But he couldn't imagine the police picking up people to be vaccinated and refusing to end up in prison.

Vaccination compulsory in Germany: Bundestag FDP wants to commit itself - first to the "facility-related" obligation

Update from November 23, 11.40 a.m.:

Germany is arguing about a general vaccination requirement - but the future traffic light coalition is still taking care of the smaller cutlery: A possible vaccination requirement for some professional groups.

There could be movement today.

The FDP parliamentary group wants to position itself on a possible vaccination requirement in facilities with people who are particularly at risk from Corona.

In addition, an internal parliamentary hearing on the so-called facility-related vaccination obligation from last Friday will be evaluated in a meeting on Tuesday, as the parliamentary group announced.

The meeting will take place digitally from 3 p.m. onwards.

Compulsory vaccination: Lauterbach and Söder plead for a tough cut - "The moment has come"

Initial report:

Berlin - how to deal with those who still refuse a corona vaccination for non-medical reasons? The more dramatically the number of infections in Germany skyrockets, the more often the term mandatory vaccination is used. For some a bogeyman, for others the ultima ratio to master the crisis. At the forefront are SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach and Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU). And other prime ministers had recently campaigned for the introduction.

The acting Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn, on the other hand, does not consider the debate * to be productive. "It does not solve our acute current problem," said the CDU politician on Tuesday morning on Deutschlandfunk. “We're not breaking this wave with a mandatory vaccination. It would come much too late, the effect. We now have to reduce contacts and act as a unified state. That's why I don't know whether all the strength we have in this debate is properly concentrated at this point in time. "

In general, Spahn * was also skeptical about the introduction of a general vaccination requirement.

This is not only a question of law, but also a question of the relationship between the state and the citizen.

In his opinion, there is a moral, social obligation to get vaccinated.

In addition, there are unanswered questions about the implementation of such a measure *.

Is vaccination compulsory in Germany?

Constitutional lawyer sees the introduction of the Basic Law covered

Ulrich Battis, constitutional lawyer at Berlin's Humboldt University, sees a general vaccination requirement unequivocally covered by the Basic Law.

"Such a general compulsory vaccination is quite justifiable - to protect the lives of other people," he told the

.

He referred to Article two of the Basic Law.

"Vaccinating citizens preventively against Corona * is covered by Article 2 of the Basic Law, which defines the protection of the life of other people," said Battis.

"The basic right to physical integrity, which Article 2 also stipulates, has to withdraw."

+

Jens Spahn (CDU, l), Federal Minister of Health, says goodbye to Karl Lauterbach (SPD), health expert, with an elbow kick, after the press conference on the current corona situation and the further procedure for vaccinations.

© Michael Kappeler / dpa

The vaccination itself must now come as quickly as possible.

“The compulsory vaccination can no longer do anything against the fourth wave, it is too late for that.

But it can help against a future fifth wave, ”continued Battis.

The neighboring country Austria, which has made vaccination compulsory from February 1, 2022 *, could serve as a model.

In addition, it is now less about the legal issue than about implementation.

The state must ensure that those who refuse to be vaccinated - for non-medical reasons - are placed in strict quarantine.

Corona vaccination requirement: More and more prime ministers for it - including Karl Lauterbach clearly

The opinion of SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach is also clear.

“I see it like Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

What still has to happen so that people are comfortable to endure a safe vaccination, at least for the purpose of protecting others ", he says in the ntv talk" #beisenherz ".

“From my point of view, the time has come to require a vaccination,” said Lauterbach.

The heads of government of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) and Markus Söder (CSU) wrote in a joint guest article for the

on Tuesday: “A vaccination requirement is not a violation of civil liberties. Rather, it is the prerequisite for regaining our freedom. ”In the ZDF“ heute journal ”, Kretschmann made it clear that he considers this to be constitutional. A few decades ago there was already a compulsory vaccination in Germany - and currently in a weakened form for measles.

The CDU heads of government Volker Bouffier from Hesse, Daniel Günther from Schleswig-Holstein and Reiner Haseloff from Saxony-Anhalt also agreed.

“A vaccination requirement must be regulated by federal law.

If the future federal government presents a corresponding amendment, then I will support it, ”said Haseloff, for example, at the request of the dpa on Monday in Magdeburg.

Previously, the CSU leadership had already backed the demand for a general vaccination requirement.

There was great approval for this, said party leader Markus Söder after a video switch from the CSU board in Munich.

This was later confirmed by General Secretary Markus Blume in the ARD talk “Hard but fair” *.

Social psychology: slack pressure on the unvaccinated has the opposite effect - introduction could help

According to a social psychologist, compulsory vaccination could even change the attitude of those who oppose vaccination rather than just continuing to build up pressure to vaccinate. "A substantial part of the population has built in the self-image not to be vaccinated," said the Marburg social psychologist Ulrich Wagner of the dpa. In their "bubble" this opinion would be constantly reinforced and reinforced. "If political pressure is exerted, there is a risk that this bubble will grow closer together."

“Only increasing the pressure in a lukewarm manner leads to an encapsulation.

A clear announcement could mean that anti-vaccination opponents who were actually walled in could still be vaccinated in the end and then subsequently change their convictions, "believes Wagner.

Changing his mind and defending that against the group is very difficult.

A vaccination requirement would bring "a new argument into play, both for one's own convictions and for the group," he says.

“The external compulsion would be an excuse.”

List of rubric lists: © Kay Nietfeld