As of: March 8, 2024, 3:29 p.m
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A vaccination certificate with a cross for the measles vaccination lies on a table.
© Tom Weller/dpa
Since 2020, children who go to kindergarten or school must be immune to measles.
But not all parents have their children vaccinated, as a recent outbreak has shown.
You face fines.
Dresden - Saxony's authorities have imposed hundreds of fines on parents in recent years for failing to vaccinate schoolchildren with measles.
In response to a dpa request, the Central Saxony district reported 185 fine notices in the past two school years, the Görlitz district reported 314 fines imposed in 2023, and the city of Leipzig in the same year reported 184 administrative offense proceedings that were initiated in this regard.
Since March 2020, children who attend an institution such as a kindergarten, after-school care center or school must be vaccinated against the highly contagious virus.
There was recently an outbreak in Vogtland in which twelve children aged between a few months and 13 years became ill.
According to the health department, they were not sufficiently vaccinated.
While a ban on entry can be imposed in kindergartens and after-school care centers if children are not vaccinated, the situation is more complicated in schools.
“Compulsory schooling violates compulsory vaccination,” explained the Ministry of Culture upon request.
Therefore, unvaccinated children would also have to be admitted to schools.
However, the schools report this to the health authorities, who can then impose fines on the parents.
These can be up to 2500 euros, but are usually lower.
The Bautzen district office, for example, spoke of amounts between 50 and 200 euros for the more than 300 fines imposed last year, the Pirna district office of 250 euros (79 fines in 2023).
“There is no obligation to visit the daycare center,” says the ministry.
“Therefore, the admission of children without measles vaccination must be refused.”
Numerous entry bans
In such cases, the authorities have issued numerous entry bans in the past year.
In the Bautzen district there were 13, and in Dresden there were 39 since the implementation of the Measles Protection Act, of which 26 were repealed.
The majority of these children had been vaccinated twice, but the parents had failed to provide proof despite repeated requests, the city administration explained.
“The ban on entry currently exists for 13 children.” In Chemnitz last year, 50 daycare children were reported to the health department without proof of immunity to measles.
According to the city, the Leipzig Health Department does not have any information on this.
The Standing Vaccination Commission recommends a double vaccination in a combination of measles, mumps and rubella for all children.
Babies and toddlers should receive the first vaccination between the ages of 11 and 14 months and the second between 15 and 23 months.
A single vaccination is also recommended for adults if they were born after 1970 and their vaccination status is unclear or if they received no or only one vaccination in childhood.
With a view to compulsory measles vaccination for children in kindergarten, school and after-school care, the Zwickau district offers consultations.
But only four percent of those required to provide proof took advantage of the offer.
The discussions often revolve around the safety of the vaccines, the possible amount of fines, the usefulness of the obligation to provide evidence or the compatibility of the vaccination with one's own beliefs, informed district spokesman Sebastian Brückner.
Reactions ranged from resignation to aggression.
“As a rule, our subjective impression is that there is little understanding of the obligation to provide evidence.” Last year, 254 proceedings were initiated in the Zwickau district because the relevant evidence was not submitted or was not submitted in a timely manner.
This will then be prosecuted as an administrative offense.
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Even though there are still parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated against measles, according to the Ministry of Health, the vaccination rate has “developed encouragingly”.
It refers to data from school entrance examinations.
While there are declines in other vaccinations such as polio, tetanus and whooping cough, the rate of measles has increased since 2019.
Accordingly, it was most recently 99.2 percent for the 1st vaccination and 95.6 percent for the 2nd vaccination.
Evaluations of four-year-olds in daycare centers and sixth-graders in schools showed a similar trend.
The overall low number of cases and the circumstances surrounding the recent outbreak in Vogtland, which only affected unvaccinated children from two families, demonstrate the effectiveness of the Measles Protection Act in preventing chains of infection, the Ministry of Health concluded.
dpa