Status: 05.12.2021 09:38 a.m.
Access restrictions, school closings, travel warnings: Many politicians are calling for stricter measures in view of the high corona numbers. The votes in favor of a general vaccination requirement are also increasing.
In view of the persistently high number of corona infections, the discussion continues on whether the measures adopted by politicians to counteract the pandemic are sufficient.
For example, Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus called for a further tightening of the measures. “In areas with high incidences, you have to think about temporary contact restrictions for vaccinated people,” said the CDU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
In schools, of course, the school ministers must endeavor to keep them open for as long as possible with mask compulsory, tests and ventilation. “But there must be no taboos for regions with very high incidences.” He feared that the latest federal and state resolutions will not be enough to break the wave.
Wissing: “Don’t plan trips”
The future Federal Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing, advised staying at home for Christmas and not traveling. “Winter 2021 will be more dramatic than winter 2020. We mustn’t take Corona lightly,” said the FDP politician of “Bild am Sonntag”. “Contact restrictions, including in the private sector, are important to combat the pandemic.” In the current situation, it seems to make more sense to “spend Christmas in a small group at home and not plan any major trips across the country”.
On Thursday, the federal and state governments decided on contact restrictions for unvaccinated people and stipulated for leisure events and shops that only vaccinated and convalescent people (2G) are allowed access.
Klingbeil admits omissions
The designated SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil emphasized that it was good that there was now a bipartisan consensus for tightening the situation. At the same time, he admitted that there had been omissions that made fighting the fourth wave difficult.
“Acted too late or too hesitantly. But politicians were not alone in adopting this attitude. Even the Standing Vaccination Commission recommended booster vaccinations only for over 70s a few weeks ago,” said Klingbeil. “But for me it’s not about shifting responsibility back and forth.” Now it is necessary to act consistently when it comes to vaccinations and boosters.
Bundestag should vote on compulsory vaccination
There is also lively discussion about a general vaccination requirement, although the federal government had long ruled out such a vaccination. The prospective new Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that the Bundestag will vote on it without being forced into a parliamentary group. According to government spokesman Steffen Seibert, this could be the case at the beginning of next year. It could then take effect in February of March. The German Ethics Council should be questioned beforehand.
Its member Frauke Rostalski turned against a general vaccination requirement. Germany has not yet exhausted all other instruments, explained the law professor in the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. Such a measure cannot be justified regardless of the individual risk of severe Covid 19 disease.
It looks different with the over 60-year-olds, who make up the majority of Covid patients in intensive care units. “Then it becomes obvious that precisely these people have to be protected in order to avoid overloading the health system,” said Rostalski.
Röttgen and Strobl for compulsory vaccination
In the opinion of the CDU politician Norbert Röttgen, who is one of the three candidates for the chairmanship of his party, a general vaccination requirement would also be legally tenable: “In weighing up the not insignificant severity of the interference and weighing up the damage for society, it is clearly justifiable under constitutional law “, he told the editorial network Germany (RND). He will vote in the Bundestag for a general vaccination requirement. The vaccination rate is too low and the social acceptance of mandatory vaccination has increased.
According to Röttgen, the opponents of corona vaccinations are a greater challenge for the cohesion of society than government measures such as mandatory vaccination. “The split in that it is still left to a minority to trigger a huge wave of infections that affects and restricts the entire population is much more serious.”
The chairman of the conference of interior ministers, Thomas Strobl (CDU) warned that if vaccinations were compulsory, the protests could become more radical. According to the intelligence of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, it could be assumed that “compulsory vaccinations will reinforce the aggressive attitude of the lateral thinker movement,” said the Baden-Württemberg interior minister to the newspapers of the Funke media group. In the fight against Corona, however, it is right to introduce a general compulsory vaccination.