Exit open: Corona vaccination becomes a piñata in the Bundestag - voting is pending

Created: 04/07/2022, 05:20

By: Cindy Boden

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD, l.), speaks with Karl Lauterbach (SPD), Federal Minister of Health, in the plenary session in the Bundestag (archive image) © Michael Kappeler/dpa

On Thursday, after a long back and forth, the Bundestag will vote on the corona vaccination requirement.

Shortly before that, a new compromise emerged.

Lauterbach is confident.

• On Thursday, directly from 9 a.m., the Corona* vaccination requirement is the big topic in the Bundestag.

• Several proposals are available for discussion and voting.

• It could be tight with a majority for an application, but the Federal Minister of Health expects a decision in favor of the

  Vaccination compulsory from the age of 60.

Berlin – For many months there has been a debate about the compulsory corona vaccination in Germany.

The Bundestag is due to make its decision on Thursday (April 7).

The debate in the German Parliament will start at 9 a.m.

After a debate lasting around 70 minutes, there are likely to be several roll-call votes among the MPs.

To the last it is unclear whether a proposal for or against compulsory vaccination will ultimately win a majority.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) expects a vote for the latest compromise proposal on compulsory vaccination.

"I'm assuming that we will decide on compulsory vaccination tomorrow," said Lauterbach on Wednesday.

The compromise negotiated between two groups of deputies on Tuesday is "a good proposal".

Corona vaccination requirement: Lauterbach expects a majority for the proposal from the age of 60

The revised application provides for an immediate decision on vaccination from the age of 60, which should take effect from October 1st.

The Minister of Health emphasized that 90 percent of those who die of or with Corona belong to this age group.

He also pointed out that compulsory vaccination from the age of 18 could also be decided if the situation among people between 18 and 59 had not improved significantly.

For the new proposal, the previous advocates of compulsory vaccination from the age of 18 have joined forces with those who had proposed a possible compulsory vaccination from the age of 50 with upstream compulsory advice.

So this is a big group, but is it enough in the end?

In any case, the Union is sticking to its proposal for a graduated vaccination requirement with a vaccination register.

The new proposal is about “messed up compromises that the coalition has to make because they don’t agree among themselves,” said Union faction leader Friedrich Merz (CDU*) on Wednesday morning on Deutschlandfunk.

The motion submitted by his group "we still think is the right one," he emphasized.

Two other motions that will play a role in the Bundestag on Thursday also provide for the complete waiver of compulsory vaccination.

Corona vaccination requirement: Union urges MPs to be disciplined

Before the vote, the leadership of the Union faction apparently warns their MPs to be disciplined.

"Take part in all votes, agree to our application, reject the other templates," says a letter from parliamentary secretary Thorsten Frei (CDU) to his parliamentary group colleagues, which was available to the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

"If our motion does not gain a majority, the impulse to vote for other proposals, just to have some sort of outcome, should be resisted," the letter said.

First, the

had reported about it.

Corona vaccination obligation: vote in the Bundestag - exit open

A simple majority is sufficient for voting.

So it is not necessary for at least 369 of the 736 MPs to vote for it, but it would be enough if more of the MPs present voted yes than no.

It may also depend on the order in which the votes are cast.

Because tactics will play a certain role in the vote.

If the vaccination draft were to come first and did not get a majority, some of its supporters could theoretically vote in the Union, for example, before there was no regulation at all.

Conversely, it could be similar: If all other proposals were rejected and the vaccination proposal only came at the end, other MPs could theoretically join in order to come to a conclusion at all.

However, it is also possible that no proposal will get a majority.

The Federal Council would also have to agree to the introduction of compulsory vaccination.