Key points paper submitted
MPs outline what the vaccination requirement should look like in concrete terms
The government wants vaccinations to be mandatory in the spring. But there are a few things to consider.
© Fabian Sommer / DPA
In the debate about mandatory corona vaccination, seven other parliamentarians have specified their ideas in a key issues paper. Health insurance companies in particular play a key role in this.
Recently, it seemed as if the debate about compulsory vaccination would lose momentum. There was a first orientation debate in the Bundestag. But when it came to the specific applications, it initially remained largely a matter of declarations of intent.
This has changed now. Seven other members of the Bundestag have now specified their plans for mandatory corona vaccination. In a key issues paper, the parliamentarians from the SPD, Greens and FDP propose that vaccinations should be compulsory for all adults over the age of 18 “with permanent residence in Germany”. It would be fulfilled with three vaccinations and limited to the end of next year. The “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” and the “Rheinische Post” had reported on the paper, which was also available to the German Press Agency.
According to the proposal, health insurance companies would play a key role in implementation should the law come into force. They would inform their insured, query and save the vaccination status via a vaccination portal. According to the plans, anyone who does not provide proof will face fines, if necessary several times. So-called compulsory detention should be avoided.
The aim of compulsory vaccination: basic immunity and protection of the health system
From the point of view of the MPs, the aim of compulsory vaccination should be to protect society and the health system from renewed overload and to build up “a high level of basic immunity in good time before next winter”.
The possible introduction of compulsory vaccination is expected to be voted on in the Bundestag in March. The deputies should cast their vote without being forced to belong to a parliamentary group and can join so-called cross-party group motions. The proposal made here comes from the SPD deputies Dirk Wiese, Heike Baehrens and Dagmar Schmidt, the Greens Janosch Dahmen and Till Steffen as well as Katrin Helling-Plahr and Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann from the FDP.
In addition, there are other parliamentarians around the FDP health politician Andrew Ullmann, who advocate a middle ground and advocate a mandatory professional and personal consultation for all adult unvaccinated people. If the necessary vaccination rate is not achieved after a certain period of time, an obligation from the age of 50 could take effect. A group led by FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki, on the other hand, wants to prevent compulsory vaccination in general. The AfD has also submitted an application against compulsory vaccination.
A few days ago, a survey by “Welt” among all 736 members of the Bundestag gave a very unclear picture: Of the almost 80 percent who had reported back, around 25 percent were in favor of compulsory vaccination from the age of 18, 22 percent were still undecided, and 18 percent were against compulsory vaccination , 11 percent said they did not want to comment, and only 2.85 percent supported age-related vaccination.