Status: 02/10/2022 3:12 p.m
Six months of recovered status for a member of the Bundestag, just three months for everyone else – that caused a lack of understanding and criticism. Now the Bundestag has adjusted the regulation.
The shortening of the recovered status from six to three months should also apply to members of the German Bundestag from next week. This changes the rules for access by members of parliament and employees to plenary and committee meetings, as the Bundestag administration announced. Those who have recovered without an additional vaccination are now only granted access up to a maximum of 90 days after the positive test result; previously the period had been 180 days.
The Bundestag is thus also implementing the reduction in the status of convalescents, which was surprisingly carried out by the Robert Koch Institute in January. The so-called general decree was changed for this – this was preceded by an agreement between Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) and the parliamentary groups. The new decree is initially limited to March 13th.
Change also in Johnson&Johnson vaccination
There are also changes for MPs who have only received a single vaccination with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. They will need to show another vaccination from next week to gain access to plenary and committee meetings. The goal of the adjusted rules is “to keep the incidence of infection in the Bundestag properties as low as possible and to ensure the ability of parliament to work,” said the parliamentary administration.
The reduction in the status of those who have recovered is likely to affect AfD MPs in the Bundestag in particular. There are numerous MPs in their ranks who have recovered but not been vaccinated. They have to follow the debates in the plenary hall from a specially reserved visitor gallery, which they can only access if they present a negative corona test.
There had been massive criticism both of the shortening of the convalescent status in general and of the special regulation for the Bundestag.