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Ex-parliamentary group leader Sahra Wagenknecht
Photo: Arne Immanuel Bänsch / dpa
There is resistance from prominent sources against the decision of the Left Party Executive Committee on a general compulsory vaccination: The former chairman of the Left parliamentary group Sahra Wagenknecht opposes the decision.
Politicians should "rather see to it that every older person who wants to get their booster promptly now, instead of harassing young, healthy people whose risk of ending up in an intensive care unit is extremely low," Wagenknecht told SPIEGEL.
The party executive had spoken out Tuesday in favor of a general vaccination requirement.
Wagenknecht herself is not vaccinated and said she did not want to be vaccinated with the currently approved vaccines.
In general, Wagenknecht does not rule out compulsory vaccination.
She described this as debatable, "if we had vaccines that, like the smallpox vaccine once did, actually prevent infections and protect them permanently," said Wagenknecht.
This is not the case with the mRNA or vector vaccines that have already been approved in Germany.
However, permanent protection would not be given even with the inactivated vaccines apparently favored by Wagenknecht, such as the two vaccines from the Chinese manufacturers Sinovac and Sinopharm or the French manufacturer Valneva.
Still, Wagenknecht said that if these vaccines were approved, she would be vaccinated.
Inactivated vaccines are based on an inactivated virus, so they contain killed pathogens or components that no longer multiply.
If the body comes into contact with it, it forms antibodies against the pathogen without the disease breaking out.
In contrast to those previously approved in the EU, such agents belong to the classic vaccines.
They are comparatively easy to manufacture, which makes them particularly interesting for developing countries.
However, even this type of vaccine does not offer one hundred percent protection against infection with the coronavirus.
And dead vaccines also have to be refreshed regularly because the protective effect diminishes.
In any case, Wagenknecht does not consider compulsory vaccination to be sensible.
"All of these vaccines protect against severe courses for a certain period of time, although it is completely open how often this protection can be extended with boosters and what consequences the repeated vaccination has for the human organism," said Wagenknecht.
(Read here why experts consider the fear of possible long-term effects of vaccination to be unfounded.)
Regional associations in the east mainly for compulsory vaccination
In the left-wing party executive, only the possibility of mandatory vaccination was initially debated.
The resolution text was sharpened in an amendment by several party board members.
According to reports, the party chairman Janine Wissler in particular is said to have expressed skepticism, while the regional associations in the east predominantly spoke out in favor of the obligation.
With statements about the vaccination, Wagenknecht had triggered considerable controversy among the left in recent weeks.
Wagenknecht does not deny Corona, nor does it make a clear statement as an opponent of vaccinations, but some of her statements are very close to those of this clientele.
In a parliamentary group meeting, she was the only MEP who did not vote for a resolution in which the left-wing parliamentary group clearly spoke out in favor of vaccination.
Wagenknecht is now so controversial in the party that board member Maximilian Becker recently even suggested that she join the AfD.