Markus Söder does not want to implement compulsory vaccination for people who work in the health sector for the time being. The CDU is also keeping its distance. Does this mean that the general obligation to vaccinate is also beginning to wobble? No, they say from Bavaria.
Munich – Karl Lauterbach is not prone to outbursts of emotion. It is therefore not always easy to tell whether the Federal Minister of Health was annoyed by something from the SPD. In this case you can be sure. The fact that Bavaria wants to suspend the facility-related vaccination requirement for people who work in healthcare or nursing, which actually comes into force on March 15, is a “very dangerous signal,” says Lauterbach on Tuesday. Prime Minister Markus Söder gives the impression that protests on the streets are more important than protecting vulnerable people in clinics or homes. He was “surprised” by Söder’s announcement. Lauterbach receives support from Schleswig-Holstein, where CDU Prime Minister Daniel Günther has announced that the vaccination requirement for nursing staff will be implemented as planned.
But it’s not just CSU boss Söder. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is also calling for the nationwide suspension of compulsory vaccination in the sector. And although the vast majority of the CDU/CSU members of the Bundestag voted for the law in December, the health policy spokesman for the Union faction, Tino Sorge (CDU), also agreed with the two on Tuesday. “The federal government must realize that the facility-related vaccination requirement is currently hardly feasible.”
Söder’s push for compulsory vaccination draws criticism from Berlin: Holetschek makes his position clear
In view of this change of heart in the second largest parliamentary group, the question also arises as to what all this could mean for the general obligation to vaccinate, which the Bundestag is to decide on in March. It is true that parliamentarians are not obliged to belong to a parliamentary group – everyone is only obliged to their conscience. But if the overall political mood were to change, it would hardly go unnoticed by all MPs. So are the hoped-for majorities wobbling here too?
Lauterbach is deliberately relaxed. For the general obligation to vaccinate, all this means “nothing at all”. The “time frame of the debate” is not at risk either. He is convinced that the goal of first coping with the omicron wave and then preventing a “relapse in autumn” through general vaccination is still achievable.
Despite going it alone in care, the CSU is pushing for the general obligation to vaccinate – “as quickly as possible”
There are also clear signals from Bavaria on Tuesday that nothing has changed in the basic attitude towards general compulsory vaccination. “So that we don’t misunderstand each other: Of course, the general obligation to vaccinate must come, and as quickly as possible,” says Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) of our newspaper. And Bavaria is also sticking to the institution-related vaccination requirement. But in order to do justice to their “sense and purpose at all”, “reasonable and pragmatic implementation times” are needed. Söder makes a similar statement when asked.
It is still unclear what a possible general vaccination requirement would look like. There are different ideas in the Bundestag. While one group is striving for compulsory vaccination for everyone over the age of 18, another prefers compulsory vaccination from the age of 50 with prior mandatory information. The third camp is against any kind of compulsory vaccination. In addition, the Union has announced its own proposal in which a possible vaccination requirement should be linked to the respective situation.
Lauterbach expects the first concrete draft laws – this time coming from parliament and not from the ministry – in the current week. The first reading in the Bundestag is to take place next week, and the second and third in March. The Federal Council could then agree by April. Vaccination could come into force in the summer. If it is decided.
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