Corona vaccination obligation: Scholz increases the pressure - approval in the population decreases slightly

Created: 01/11/2022, 05:20 AM

By: Astrid Theil, Jonas Raab, Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld

The current debate about a general corona vaccination requirement is exacerbated and delayed.

Meanwhile, another vaccination debate is already looming.

• The goal stated by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) of introducing a general vaccination requirement by March at the latest cannot be met.

• The pressure on Scholz * is growing - SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert defends Scholz against criticism

  (see update from January 10th, 1.30pm)

  .

• There is a slight but measurable decrease in the general public's approval of compulsory vaccinations, as a current survey shows

  (see update from January 10, 5:15 p.m.)

  .

• This news ticker is updated regularly.

Update from January 10th, 5:15 p.m.:

While politicians are debating the introduction of the compulsory corona vaccination, the approval of the population is falling slightly. The majority, however, still welcome the mandatory spades. According to a recent survey by the opinion research institute Civey, which was carried out on behalf of

, around 64 percent of people are in favor of compulsory vaccination and 32 percent against. According to

, the survey shows a measurably lower approval of the general compulsory vaccination. In surveys in November and December, more than 70 percent were in favor of the introduction.

The gray area of ​​opinion in terms of mandatory vaccination seems to be small.

Only 6 percent of those questioned answered with “somewhat no”, 12 percent with “somewhat yes”.

4 percent did not find an answer.

An east-west divide also became clear.

In western Germany, 66 percent of those questioned were in favor of the mandatory injection, in the east only 52 percent.

In addition, advocacy increases with age.

The greatest approval is given by people over 65 years of age, writes

, but does not give exact percentages.

Corona vaccination obligation: doubts about Scholz's schedule are growing

Update from January 10, 4:20 p.m.:

SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert has spoken out in favor of a swift decision by the Bundestag on a general compulsory vaccination. On Monday after deliberations in the party presidium, however, he doubted that the entry into force originally targeted by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) could still be achieved by the beginning of March. "It may now be the case that the schedule in the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat does not allow that," said Kühnert.

He rejected the opposition's accusation that Scholz and the federal government were not actively promoting the project.

"That has nothing to do with a lack of leadership," said Kühnert.

It was right to leave the question to parliament, and Scholz, as a member of parliament, had clearly positioned himself for compulsory vaccination.

"This is not a disguised question of confidence that is being asked here," emphasized the SPD General Secretary.

Corona in Germany: Chancellor Scholz wants a quick decision to introduce general vaccination requirements

Update from January 10th, 3:45 p.m.:

In view of the delays in the parliamentary procedure, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) warned against postponing the introduction of a general vaccination requirement. Scholz advocates compulsory vaccination and is of the opinion "that it should be done quickly," said Vice Government Spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann on Monday in Berlin. However, it was up to the Bundestag to set the timetable for the passage of the law.

There, the coalition and opposition factions showed a willingness to accelerate the legislative process - if necessary also by convening special sessions and foregoing the traditional break from the carnival in February. "We are always ready for a special meeting, should the situation require it," said Union Parliament Secretary Thorsten Frei (CDU) of the AFP news agency. His group pursues the goal "that all necessary measures to combat the latest variant of the coronavirus would be taken". "We are constructively at the side of the federal government here."

So far, the Bundestag calendar has only recorded a single week of session in February.

"The carnival break will not prevent us from coming to legislation," but it was also said on Monday from circles of the traffic light groups to AFP.

"During the pandemic, we showed that we are ready for special meetings at any time."

Is the general compulsory vaccination coming?

And if so, when?

Debate is getting heated

Update from January 10, 3 p.m.:

The CDU has asked the federal government to quickly draw up a bill for a general vaccination requirement.

In principle, everyone agrees that it is now a question of implementation, said CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak after deliberations with the party leadership on Monday in Berlin.

“The federal government just has to deliver now.” Ziemiak accused the government of hesitation.

“Doing nothing is not an option.

That unsettles people. "

In the CDU, “the leaders” are in favor of compulsory vaccinations, said the Secretary General.

The CDU is always ready to talk about these important issues, including in special sessions of the Bundestag.

"The calendar of meetings of the Bundestag is not an obstacle," emphasized Ziemiak.

According to the will of the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP, there should be no government bill.

Rather, a so-called orientation debate is initially planned for the last week of January.

The basis for this should be three non-parliamentary requests with different positions on the compulsory vaccination.

The parliamentary group obligation is to be lifted for the later vote - each member of the parliament should only decide according to his conscience.

The same procedure was also chosen for the decision on other important ethical questions such as the new regulation of euthanasia.

Corona vaccination obligation: traffic lights disagree - Baerbock reports with a clear statement from Italy

Update from January 10, 2 p.m.:

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock supported the introduction of mandatory vaccinations during her visit to Italy. "I believe that a compulsory vaccination makes sense," said the Green politician after a meeting with her Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio on Monday in Rome. You and your party have already made that clear. It is about living life again as people were used to and therefore protecting people. It therefore makes sense to introduce compulsory vaccinations in Germany, explained the 41-year-old.

Italy had recently expanded the compulsory vaccination.

Since January 8th, people over 50 years of age have had to be immunized against Covid-19.

From February 1, there is a threat of a fine for those who fail to receive either the first or one of the follow-up doses.

In the afternoon Baerbock was due to visit a vaccination center in Rome.

Di Maio thanked the Germans for their willingness to go there.

According to him, the Italian vaccination strategy has shown great success.

He pointed out that the introduction of the obligation for the over-50-year-olds was a recommendation of science.

Corona in Germany: Debate about mandatory vaccination is putting Scholz under pressure - Kühnert contradicts

Update from January 10th, 1.30 p.m.:

Secretary General Kevin Kühnert does not see parliament under acute time pressure with a view to the decision on compulsory vaccination. It was always clear "that a general vaccination requirement could not help to cope with the current Omikron wave," said Kühnert on Monday in Berlin after a meeting of the SPD presidium. He was responding to criticism of possible delays in the parliamentary procedure.

With a view to the announcement by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in December that the compulsory vaccination should be launched by February or March if possible, Kühnert said that Scholz only described this as "desirable" at the time. It could now be that “the timetable in the Bundestag and Bundesrat does not allow that”. In any case, it should remain so that the members of Parliament can decide freely. He himself "has not yet decided how I will vote," said Kühnert.

There had previously been speculation that parliamentary deliberations could also be delayed because only one plenary week in the Bundestag is scheduled because of the carnival season in February. "It is not as if the Bundestag would stop work because of carnival," said Kühnert. He himself would therefore also be ready for special meetings, "my calendar does not provide for so many dates in the carnival week". It is more about how fast the work on the draft legislation on mandatory vaccination is progressing.

General compulsory vaccination in Germany: Green expert Janosch Dahmen shows the procedure

Update from January 10th, 1:20 p.m.:

The Green health expert Janosch Dahmen has proposed a two-stage approach to a general corona vaccination requirement. This does not help now in the Omikron wave, but in the best case protect against further waves in the coming autumn / winter season, said the member of the Bundestag on Monday on Deutschlandfunk. Therefore, in the next step, the facility-related vaccination obligation that has already been decided should be expanded to other areas such as fire brigade, police or the penal system and then the general vaccination obligation should be implemented as soon as possible.

A vaccination requirement for employees in facilities with particularly vulnerable people such as nursing homes and clinics had already been decided in December. They have to prove by mid-March 2022 that they have been vaccinated or have recovered. The Bundestag should vote on a general vaccination requirement without group specifications. The first thing under discussion is an “orientation debate” in Parliament in January. According to the information so far, the SPD is aiming to conclude a legislative process “in the first quarter”, ie by the end of March.

Dahmen said that for a general vaccination requirement it is right to take enough time for good advice.

"Leadership does not mean basta politics, but taking society with you and overcoming rifts."

This has already been tried out for other medical-ethical questions such as organ donation.

Scholz threatens vaccination debacle: Green expert puts pressure and now wants to enforce Plan B.

Update from January 10th, 11.15 a.m.:

The CDU member of the Bundestag Christoph Ploß brought up a special session of the Bundestag in order to accelerate a decision on a general vaccination requirement. "A decision about this must not be postponed for weeks - if necessary, we need a special session of the Bundestag," said the Hamburg CDU state chairman to

. You don't need a protracted orientation debate now, but a quick decision.

Update from January 10, 10 a.m.:

In the debate about the general compulsory corona vaccination, the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is growing. The Greens are pushing the SPD politician to plan B. “In view of the sharp increase in new infections in the Omikron wave and the impending risk of massive staff losses in the critical infrastructure area, I consider it very sensible and feasible to implement the facility-related vaccination requirement at short notice to expand other areas such as the police, fire brigade and the penal system, ”said the Green health politician Janosch Dahmen to the

 on Monday.

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) reacts during the press conference after a meeting of the Prime Ministers with the Federal Government.

The discussions were about new corona measures to curb the spread of the omicron wave.

© John Macdougall / dpa

The facility-related vaccination requirement serves to protect other people, "especially where they may not be able to protect themselves adequately," continued Dahmen.

"Beyond the health system, this is particularly true where the state bears responsibility for other people and where distance and masks are not always possible."

Scholz threatens vaccination debacle: is the Italy regulation coming?

First report from January 9th, 11.30 a.m .:

Berlin - The Omikron wave has reached Germany and is fueling the debate about a general vaccination requirement. In January, the introduction of the Corona * vaccination requirement will be debated for the first time in the Bundestag. A free vote - i.e. without the usual parliamentary group stipulation - should vote on a mandatory vaccination. Instead of a draft law by the traffic light government, the topic is to be dealt with by means of so-called group motions by members of parliament.

One thing is already certain: the goal stated by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) of introducing a general vaccination requirement by March at the latest cannot be met.

The reason: the schedule of the Bundestag and Bundesrat and complex legal issues make implementation this early impossible.

Scholz had said on ZDF at the end of November that a general vaccination should apply from the beginning of February or the beginning of March.

However, the first comprehensive orientation debate on the subject will probably only take place in the Bundestag on January 26th and 27th.

Debate about compulsory corona vaccination: schedule shifts - statement by Scholz unrealistic

Because of Carnival, only one week of meetings is scheduled in February. Therefore, a decision will probably be made in the week from March 14th at the earliest. The

learned this from coalition circles. Since the Federal Council must also give its approval if it is passed and will not meet again until April 8, the project can only then be finally implemented according to the current schedule.

The consequence: compulsory vaccination can hardly come into force before the beginning of May without special meetings.

If a vaccination register is also required for compulsory vaccination, the introduction could be delayed even further.

The creation of a register with data on all vaccinated persons would take additional time.

According to information from the

, a general vaccination requirement would not come into force until June.

Compulsory vaccination: Union accuses government of delaying debate because of FDP concerns

Politicians of the SPD and the Greens have also dampened expectations of a swift decision by the Bundestag on a general vaccination requirement. SPD parliamentary group vice Dirk Wiese told

that the deliberations in the Bundestag should end in the first quarter, which is a demanding schedule. He emphasized that the compulsory vaccination is not a short-term, but rather a "precaution for the coming autumn and winter". The parliamentary group leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, Britta Haßelmann, emphasized to the newspapers of the

that the question of compulsory vaccination was "so relevant and extensive" that it needed "sound and careful advice".

The Union has already accused the Ampel-Coalition * of delaying the whole project because of the concerns expressed in parts of the FDP about the compulsory vaccination *.

Union parliamentary group manager Thorsten Frei called on Chancellor Scholz (SPD) to act faster on the issue.

Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) also calls for a faster procedure.

“The Bundestag should decide quickly whether a vaccination should be introduced.

And if so, for whom, ”said Buschmann of

Federal Minister of Justice Buschmann: Compulsory vaccination does not fail because of legal objections

In the event of the MP's approval, he announced that the law would be implemented quickly. Buschmann does not assume that the compulsory vaccination could fail due to legal objections: “More and more lawyers say that you can justify a compulsory vaccination if it helps to prevent an impending collapse of the health system, and also other protective measures that go deep into the freedom to intervene, to be able to be dispensed with ”. For reasons of time, he refuses to create a vaccination register for mandatory vaccination. According to Buschmann, violations should be punished with fines and compliance with regulations such as the 3G obligation in local public transport should be checked.

“However, everyone must still have the chance to be vaccinated,” stressed Buschmann. “I therefore expect a few months between the entry into force of the law and the application of mandatory vaccination for citizens.” Buschmann himself has not yet clearly positioned himself whether he is for or against mandatory vaccination. According to a survey by the polling institute Insa, 60 percent are in favor of a general vaccination requirement. 32 percent are against this and 7 percent do not answer. The question of a general vaccination requirement was raised at the federal-state meeting on Friday (January 7th). "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. 

New debate is looming: Will age-related compulsory vaccinations come?

While the debate about compulsory vaccination is dragging on, another vaccination debate is already looming.

FDP health politician Andrew Ullmann had recently proposed to introduce age-dependent compulsory vaccinations.

In his opinion, the yardstick for further action should not be the number of infections, but the number of illnesses.

Should the number of illnesses increase despite the measures taken, an age-related vaccination requirement could provide a remedy.

Compared to the

, he said that compulsory vaccination from the age of 50 could be considered.

Doctor and CSU health politician Stephan Pilsinger had already proposed in December that vaccinations should be mandatory for people aged 50 and over.

An age-related vaccination requirement was already decided on Wednesday by the Italian government for locals and foreigners residing in Italy over 50 years of age.

Here, too, the crucial idea was to reach the age groups that have a higher risk of hospitalization and to relieve the clinics with their vaccination.

Age-related compulsory vaccination has also been introduced in Greece.

It applies to all people aged 60 and over.