It will take some time before a corona vaccination may become mandatory. The Minister of Health reaffirms in advance that he considers an obligation to be necessary – also with the Omikron variant.
Augsburg / Berlin – Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach expects noticeable effects for the fight against the corona pandemic through the introduction of a general vaccination requirement.
“You have to accept that even with the duty you will never reach everyone,” said the SPD politician of “Welt am Sonntag”. “But I am convinced that there is a large group of unvaccinated people who we can induce to vaccinate by compulsory vaccination.”
Lauterbach emphasized that his hope was that society would be relatively well protected by the mandatory vaccination. “We must no longer find ourselves in a situation in which a summer is deceptively good, but new variants surprise us in autumn – and that without the broad majority of the population having been vaccinated. Because then everything would start all over again. “
Lauterbach: Vaccination compulsory
The minister reiterated that the vaccination requirement was necessary despite the lower risk of serious illnesses with the new Omikron variant. “An omicron infection does not necessarily make you immune to the next virus variant. The belief that the omicron variant is the end of the pandemic is naive. “
The Bundestag should vote on mandatory vaccination without group specifications. However, there is unlikely to be a quick decision. The first discussion is an “orientation debate” in January. The SPD is aiming for a legislative process to be concluded “in the first quarter”, ie by the end of March. Lauterbach claims to be working “as a member of parliament” on a proposal for a general vaccination requirement for people over the age of 18.
Goal: vaccination rate of 95 percent
The federal government has meanwhile raised the bar for so-called herd immunity to Corona. “Our goal must be to achieve a quota of 95 percent, especially among the endangered groups,” said the parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Sabine Dittmar (SPD), of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”.
“At the beginning it was thought that a quota of 70 percent would be sufficient for herd immunity. However, as we now know, that is not enough against the background of the numerous mutations. ”Omikron offers a certain chance of moving from a global pandemic to an endemic. But for that “we need more vaccinations,” said Dittmar. dpa
#Corona #vaccination #requirement #Lauterbach #expects #noticeable #effects