Corona vaccination obligation: Lauterbach's ministry speaks its word of power - new traffic light draft leaked
Created: 01/25/2022, 14:55
By: Florian Naumann, Astrid Theil
Anne Spiegel and Karl Lauterbach on the government bench in the Bundestag.
© Malte Ossowski/Sven Simon/www.imago-images.de
In a few days, the Bundestag will be debating the introduction of a general obligation to vaccinate.
Now the exact plans of the supporters have become known.
The political corona debates are picking up speed again: on Monday (January 25) there is another corona summit.
Formally, compulsory vaccination will probably not be an issue, but it remains an issue - a word of power came from the Ministry of Health.
(
updated from 1.36 p.m.
)
Before the start of the summit, the opponents of duty also spoke up (
update from 9.55 a.m.
).
Update from January 24, 3:40 p.m .:
The struggle for vaccination remains tough: The Union faction in the Bundestag is now demanding the introduction of a vaccination register from the traffic light – but leaves its position on general vaccination against the corona virus open.
Union parliamentary group vice Sepp Müller (CDU) did not want to rule out on Monday that his parliamentary groups would support one of the legislative proposals on vaccination that are being drawn up by members of the traffic light parliamentary groups in the Bundestag: "We are united by the goal that we want to bring the vaccination rate up", said Mueller. Regardless of how a general obligation to vaccinate is designed in detail, his parliamentary group basically advocates a vaccination register, he said. The vaccination campaign can only be carried out effectively if the authorities have an overview of who has not yet been vaccinated.
Such a register must be introduced "immediately" - "regardless of how the question of general vaccination is answered," he said.
The Union faction is currently still in an "orientation phase" in terms of the form of vaccination it favors, Müller said.
In the coalition factions of the SPD, Greens and FDP, the Union's demand for a vaccination register is unlikely to meet with much approval: the traffic light alliance argues that setting up a vaccination register would take a lot of time and is controversial in terms of data protection law.
Corona vaccination obligation: Lauterbach's ministry speaks its word of power - new traffic light draft leaked
Update from January 24, 1:36 p.m .:
Another draft on compulsory vaccination is on the way in the Bundestag – this time from the ranks of traffic light MPs.
The draft envisages general vaccination requirements for all people over the age of 50 and mandatory vaccination advice, the AFP news agency learned on Monday from parliamentary circles.
Unvaccinated members of this age group would then first have to seek medical advice about a corona vaccination.
The draft is in the final vote between members of the FDP, the Greens and the SPD, it said.
It could possibly be presented on Monday.
The FDP health expert Andrew Ullmann is in charge of the work on the draft.
Corona vaccination obligation: Lauterbach's ministry speaks its word of power - Green colleague positions herself
Update from January 24, 1:15 p.m .:
Another minister has positioned herself on the issue of compulsory vaccination: Head of the family department Anne Spiegel (Greens) referred in an interview to the job-related obligation to the current Bundestag plans for a general obligation to vaccinate: “I would have I wish that other measures would be sufficient, but we have to realize that we are not as advanced as other countries with the vaccination rate," she told rbb Inforadio. The unvaccinated are "a major concern for us in our society," she said.
The federal government meanwhile wants to stick to the facility-related vaccination requirement, especially for the health sector, from March 15th.
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health made this clear on Monday in Berlin.
However, he pointed out that the law passed for this purpose already provides scope for individual decisions for the federal states, which are also generally responsible for implementation.
From the point of view of Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD), the implementation of the facility-related compulsory vaccination should not be delayed, but said the spokesman for the health department.
Spiegel also commented on the situation in schools – and offered the federal states help from the federal government*.
Obligation to vaccinate: Survey shows effects on care
Update from January 24, 11.40 a.m .:
In the debate about general vaccination, the focus is increasingly on the consequences of the already decided occupational vaccination. There is now new data on her: an average of 90 percent of clinic employees who have direct patient contacts have been vaccinated against corona at least twice. This was the result of a survey by the German Hospital Society (DKG) published in Berlin on Monday.
With 66 percent, two-thirds of the hospitals expect restrictions in patient care if unvaccinated staff can no longer be employed from mid-March.
34 percent do not expect that.
According to the DKG, 246 hospitals with 50 or more beds were surveyed on January 18th and 19th for the online survey, which was first reported by the newspapers of the German editorial network.
Despite the high vaccination rate in the clinics, according to DKG boss Gerald Gass, problems can arise in patient care as a result of the institution-related vaccination obligation that will apply from mid-March.
"It is all the more important that legal clarity is established and that the health authorities implement the further procedure uniformly and with appropriate transition periods after March 15," explained Gass.
He also called for the immediate implementation of a general obligation to vaccinate.
Nursing is generally struggling with staff shortages - and the resulting high level of dissatisfaction among employees.
Vaccination obligation: CDU celebrity thinks of spectacular “1G” rule – SPD firmly expects decision
Update from January 24, 11:02 a.m .:
Will the corona vaccination be mandatory?
Berlin's former governing mayor Michael Müller (SPD) firmly assumes that.
"I'm committed," said the member of the Bundestag in a talk with
Bild
: "There will be compulsory vaccination".
The exact form is still unclear.
"It's about finally getting out of this back and forth," he added.
Thuringia's ex-CDU boss Mike Mohring introduced an even steeper thesis in the program "The Right Questions".
He pleaded for "1G": "We would be better advised to think about the question of 1G," he formulated.
What is meant is entry only for those who have been tested, regardless of their vaccination status.
The CDU politician argued that herd immunity cannot be achieved through vaccination.
Corona vaccination requirement: FDP leader warns shortly before the summit - Bavarian MPs undecided
Update from January 24, 9:55 a.m .:
The opponents of compulsory vaccination also
speak
up in time for the new Corona summit this Monday: "In my opinion there is no argument against vaccination, but there are good arguments against general compulsory vaccination," said FDP health expert Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus of the dpa.
High vaccination rates for booster and first vaccinations as well as target group-oriented approaches are the right instruments.
"Good vaccination education is more effective than general vaccination."
Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus and Christian Lindner in the Bundestag.
© Frederic Kern/www.imago-images.de
Meanwhile, many MPs still seem undecided - for Bavaria's Bundestag representatives *, this shows a survey by the radio station Antenne Bayern.
According to this, 29 percent were in favor of general corona vaccination from the age of 18, 18 percent are against it.
The majority - 39 percent - has not yet formed a final opinion and first wants to wait for the debates in parliament.
14 percent did not respond to the radio station's request or said they did not want to comment.
At the CSU, two thirds of the deputies were still undecided *, the SPD representatives spoke out for almost three quarters in favor of a duty.
Vaccination obligation in Germany: city representatives warn of bureaucratic emergency - even with job-related obligation
Meanwhile, at least warning words came from representatives of the cities in Germany. “The federal government must quickly clarify all open questions. It is unacceptable that insane administrative work falls on our feet again in the cities," said Essen's Mayor Thomas Kufen (CDU) of the
WAZ
.
Kufen initially referred to the already decided job-related vaccination requirement, which should come into force in March.
According to Kufen, it is completely unclear how the federal government imagines the interaction between employers and health authorities when handling personal data and how employment bans are to be enforced.
In the city of Essen alone, it is assumed that with a total of 50,000 employees in the affected areas, there could be 2,500 to 3,000 unvaccinated people, the report said.
Corona vaccination obligation: New plans of the supporters are now known
First report
from January 24th:
Berlin – Next Wednesday (January 26th) a general compulsory corona vaccination will be debated in the Bundestag for the first time.
Now details of the plans of the supporters have been published.
The deputy SPD parliamentary group leader Dirk Wiese, who, together with other members of the traffic light coalition, is preparing the key points for compulsory vaccination from the age of 18, gave
details
to the
German Press Agency
.
According to the plans, the obligation should be limited to one to two years, apply to no more than three vaccinations and be implemented through fines.
A vaccination register should not be created due to the large amount of time required.
Exceptions to the vaccination requirement should also be checked by the public health officer.
On Friday, Wiese, together with six politicians from the Greens and FDP, announced a group application for compulsory vaccination from the age of 18 in a letter to all members of the Bundestag with the exception of the AfD.
In all probability, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will also support this application.
The plans of the coalition MPs contain the following points in detail:
Compulsory vaccination: An overview of the plans of the coalition MPs
In the group application of the coalition MPs, an obligation for three vaccinations is provided.
The reason: "On the basis of the current studies, one can say that with three vaccinations one has achieved a good basic immunization against a severe course," says Wiese.
Additional booster vaccinations should be voluntary.
The vaccination requirement will not apply forever, but only for two years.
Because from a certain point in time there will be such a high level of basic immunity that vaccination is no longer necessary.
According to experts, this will not be the case after just a few months, but rather after one to two years.
Vaccination refusers should be sanctioned with fines.
The application is thus opposed to coercive measures such as compulsory detention.
According to the law on administrative offenses, fines range from five to 1,000 euros “unless the law stipulates otherwise”.
An amount in the "mid three-digit range" is currently being advocated.
In the case of non-payment, one could consider an individual penalty payment, according to Wiese.
"So you could also take personal living conditions into account when determining the amount." The upper limit for a penalty payment is 25,000 euros according to the Administrative Enforcement Act.
A vaccination requirement could be implemented, among other things, by recording vaccinations in a central register.
However, creating this would take a long time and is sometimes in conflict with data protection.
Since, according to Wiese, the obligation to vaccinate is primarily there to “get through next autumn and winter”, setting up a vaccination register is not practicable because it would take too long.
The obligation to vaccinate could be carried out by information technology via the health insurance companies or municipalities.
Those for whom there are health reasons against vaccination are exempted from the obligation.
However, this should not be confirmed by a family doctor, but only by a medical officer.
The background to this is that there are also doctors who oppose vaccination and fear that they could unjustifiably issue exemption certificates.
The decision on the introduction of a general obligation to vaccinate should be made in the Bundestag at the end of March.
Before the law comes into force, it still has to be passed by the Bundesrat.
There should then be a kind of grace period during which the unvaccinated can be immunized in order to avoid sanctions.
In plain language: If the Bundestag agrees at the end of March, the vaccination requirement will come into force between June and August.
Other plans: No compulsory vaccinations or compulsory vaccinations after the age of 50
However, these plans are not without competition.
The FDP politician Andrew Ullmann is currently preparing an application for compulsory vaccination from the age of 50.
The Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP), in turn, has already submitted one against compulsory vaccination *.
Kubicki fears that chaos will result from the implementation of compulsory vaccination.
Current surveys show that public approval for general corona vaccination* in Germany has fallen slightly.
However, there is still a clear majority in favor of this.
According to a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, 60 percent are in favor of general vaccination, 32 percent are against it, and 8 percent do not provide any information.
At the beginning of December, 63 percent were still in favor and only 30 percent against.
The majority of the population is in favor of compulsory vaccination: especially the age group over 55
A few days after the first vaccination in Germany on December 26, 2020, in a YouGov survey, 56 percent were still against compulsory vaccination and only 33 percent were in favor.
According to the current survey, approval of compulsory vaccination increases with age.
Of those aged 18 to 24, only 48 percent are in favor and 35 percent are against.
In the over-55 age group, 68 percent are in favor and only 26 percent are against.
(at/dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.