Upcoming vaccination requirement: Herzogsägmühle employees express concerns in an open letter

Created: 02/21/2022, 10:00 am

By: Christopher Peters

From March 16th, the institution-related vaccination against Corona in the health care system will apply nationwide.

© Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / dpa

From March 16th, the institution-related vaccination against Corona in the health care system will apply nationwide.

While politicians are still arguing about the exact implementation, employees of the Herzogsägmühle express their concerns in an open letter and warn of the consequences.

Herzogsägmühle – The date that the Bundestag and Bundesrat had set in their resolution for facility-related vaccination in December is relentlessly approaching.

From March 16, i.e. in less than four weeks, only employees in the health sector will be allowed to come to work if they have been vaccinated against Corona, have recovered from Covid 19 disease or cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

The closer the deadline gets, the greater the concerns in the affected facilities - including in Herzogsägmühle.

After director Wilfried Knorr had recently warned of the possible consequences in an interview with the local newspaper, employees of the diaconal company have now also written an open letter to the public.

"Anyone who quits is one too many"

One of the nine initiators of writing is Franz Gilgenreiner.

The Rottenbucher has been working as a caretaker in Herzogsägmühle for three years.

The 59-year-old has been vaccinated, so he is not directly affected by the upcoming regulation.

"Actually, I could sit back and relax," says Gilgenreiner.

But the Rottenbucher is far from that.

The fears of him and his fellow campaigners that the well-functioning coexistence in the diaconal village could be thrown off balance due to compulsory vaccination are too great.

Because it is clear that if unvaccinated people are no longer allowed to come to work, it affects everyone, the employees emphasize in their open letter.

The vaccinated colleagues who would have to carry a heavier workload;

the unvaccinated colleagues

who would lose their professional existence and in particular those entitled to help, "who would, with a probability bordering on certainty, lose important reference persons due to the lack of staff in the quality of care and due to the exchange of employees".

Especially with a view to the already existing shortage of skilled workers in the social sector, "everyone who stops is one too many", emphasizes Gilgenreiner.

Authors warn of a split in society

He and his colleagues also see with great concern "how this issue is increasingly leading to a division in society, in companies and even in families and circles of friends".

But that's exactly what you don't want.

"We will not allow ourselves to be divided, neither into the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, nor into those who show solidarity and those who do not, nor into opponents of vaccination and those in favor of vaccination." Appropriately, the authors plead for a "priority of individual responsibility over state regulations", one trusts all people to be "responsible with to deal with the consequences of these decisions for oneself and others.” There is talk of respect and tolerance, of diaconal basic values, which one must stick to despite differing opinions and convictions.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Schongau newsletter.)

On the other hand, one does not read a direct appeal to politicians not to implement facility-related compulsory vaccination.

Some people wished for a sharper wording at this point, says Gilgenreiner.

The 59-year-old emphasizes that he himself is against compulsory vaccination.

There are employees who are simply "a shitty fear of vaccination, it can't always be explained rationally".

Open letter meets with broad response in the company

The open letter met with a broad response within the company itself.

In a survey of employees, around 320 out of 400 participants had so far commented positively on the letter, reports Gilgenreiner.

The letter was also discussed controversially in the management conference.

Regardless of whether vaccination is compulsory or not, the authors also emphasize that in the end everyone in Herzogsägmühle has one goal: "To be able to offer the people for whom we are responsible high-quality, reliable and continuous support, care and support. "

More current news from the region around Schongau can be found here.