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A newly established vaccination center in the east of Berlin
Photo: Annette Riedl / dpa
Politicians had ruled out compulsory vaccination for everyone for a long time, but now more and more politicians are speaking out in favor of it in view of the dramatic corona situation.
Recently, the SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz suggested that the general vaccination requirement be put to a vote in the Bundestag.
He himself will then vote for the general compulsory vaccination.
According to a statement by government spokesman Steffen Seibert, this vote could take place soon.
“We are in the process of treading a path so that the German Bundestag can make such a decision at the beginning of next year.
But of course that is completely in the hands of the members of the German Bundestag, ”said Seibert in Berlin.
Seibert pointed out that there should be a recommendation from the Ethics Council on the subject beforehand.
“That's not an easy thing to do either.
That is a question of weighing up. "
The Ethics Council has not yet commented on a general vaccination requirement.
Members like the Cologne criminal lawyer Frauke Rostalski have concerns that such a general duty cannot be justified from their point of view.
The Berlin state and constitutional lawyer Ulrich Battis, on the other hand, stated that a general vaccination requirement was covered by the Basic Law.
Recently, more and more prime ministers had campaigned for the introduction of compulsory vaccinations for everyone.
On Thursday, the federal and state governments decided at the Corona switchboard to initiate a corresponding law.
The traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP had previously announced that they would introduce area-specific vaccination requirements for employees in hospitals and nursing homes.
"Never before been an infection process"
The tenor of the agreement between the federal and state governments was that this was now considered necessary, said government spokesman Seibert. The "unprecedented infection rate", the situation in the clinics, postponed operations and the "fact that patients have to be flown across Germany every day" were decisive: all of this also has to do with an insufficient vaccination rate.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU), current chairman of the Prime Minister's Conference, admitted that politicians had broken their word with regard to mandatory vaccination.
“There were also promises that were made against the background of the belief that everyone would get vaccinated.
That didn't happen, ”said Wüst.
But now you have to deal with this situation, so Wüst.
He advocated a "broad discussion" on the subject.
A “decision of conscience” in the Bundestag, as proposed by Scholz, was also the right one, said Wüst, adding: “It's no small matter, but we have to do it now because otherwise we won't get out of the loop of loosening and lockdowns.”
mrc / dpa