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Corona vaccine: Demanding schedule for general vaccination requirements
Photo: Lino Mirgeler / dpa
Vaccinations are the most important tool in the fight against the pandemic.
In Germany, however, the vaccination rate is still lower than hoped.
A compulsory vaccination could help.
However, there is disagreement about the schedule in the traffic light coalition.
Politicians from the SPD and the Greens have now dampened expectations of a swift decision by the Bundestag on a general vaccination requirement. SPD parliamentary group vice-president Dirk Wiese told the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”: “We should bring the deliberations in the Bundestag to a conclusion in the first quarter.” That was a demanding schedule. With a view to possible delays, Wiese said that the compulsory vaccination does not have a short-term effect anyway, but is "in perspective a precaution for the coming autumn and winter".
The parliamentary group leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, Britta Haßelmann, said: "This is not an easy decision, it means a deep intervention." "And then we can hold the public debate in the Bundestag about it at the end of January," said Haßelmann to the newspapers of the Funke media group. The question is "so relevant and extensive" that it needs "in-depth and very careful advice". Hasselmann himself spoke out in favor of compulsory vaccination.
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP), however, calls for a quick decision.
“The Bundestag should decide quickly whether a vaccination should be introduced.
And if so, for whom, ”says Buschmann of“ Bild am Sonntag ”according to a preliminary report.
MEPs should also take the time to carefully consider this difficult issue.
The Bundestag should vote on mandatory vaccination without group specifications.
However, there is unlikely to be a quick decision.
Initially, an "orientation debate" in January is under discussion.
The SPD is aiming for a legislative process to be concluded "in the first quarter", ie by the end of March.
The next regular meeting of the Bundesrat would be on April 8th.
The German Association of Cities supports plans to introduce a general vaccination requirement and relies on a quick decision. "In order to leave the pandemic behind us, we have to be vaccinated for the most part, we can probably only do that with a general vaccination requirement," said Markus Lewe, President of the City Council, of the Funke newspapers. He warned: “The Bundestag must conduct the necessary debate quickly and decide. Then we'd be better prepared for the fifth wave. "
Union parliamentary group manager Thorsten Frei called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to be more active on the issue.
“The Chancellor cannot wait with his arms crossed to see whether there will be proposals from Parliament or not.
Valuable time is wasted there.
That is the opposite of leadership, that is refusal to work! ”Said the CDU politician to“ Bild am Sonntag ”.
According to a survey by the polling institute Insa, a majority of citizens are in favor of a general vaccination requirement.
In the survey for "Bild am Sonntag", 61 percent supported such a compulsory vaccination, 32 percent are against it, 7 percent did not answer.
The German Child Protection Association is appealing to parents to get vaccinated against the corona virus.
"A serious illness of the parents would be much worse for their children than that the parents cannot accompany them to the cinema," said the President of the Child Protection Association, Heinz Hilgers, of the dpa news agency.
Paying attention to your own health, this is also in the interests of the offspring for people with children.
Buschmann defends the 2G plus rule for restaurants
The question of a general compulsory vaccination was also the topic of the federal-state consultations on Friday. "All 16 heads of government of the federal states have declared that they are in favor of a general compulsory vaccination," said Chancellor Scholz afterwards. The round also decided on new measures to combat pandemics - including a nationwide 2G-plus regulation in the catering trade and changed quarantine regulations.
Federal Justice Minister Buschmann defended the regulations for the restaurants. According to this, only those who have been boosted and who have been vaccinated twice with a daily test have access. "The alternative would have been the complete closure of the catering trade," said Buschmann of the "Bild am Sonntag". "Against the Delta variant, 2G was enough as protection, in the Omikron wave we need 2G plus, so an additional booster or test." But he can understand the concerns of the restaurateurs well, "because it means more control effort and probably also poorer sales." said the minister.
The Marburger Bund medical association fears that many people will become infected with the Omikron virus variant without being noticed.
"There is a risk that many people will not even perceive their corona infection as such and only assume they have a cold," warned the association chairwoman Susanne Johna in the editorial network Germany (RND / Sonntag).
In this way, odor and taste disorders would no longer occur with an Omicron infection.
Johna therefore advised that a rapid antigen test should be carried out even if the symptoms were very slight.
"Anyone who has a cold, coughs or feels unwell should test and isolate themselves as a precaution and, if in doubt, do another antigen test on the second day," Johna told the RND.
asc / dpa / Reuters
