Leipzig
Vaccination obligation in the Bundeswehr: officers refuse corona vaccination – and go to the Federal Administrative Court
Two officers do not want to accept vaccination (icon image)
© Patrick Pleul / Picture Alliance
Two officers of the Air Force refuse the actually mandatory corona vaccination and therefore went to the Federal Administrative Court. They doubt the effectiveness of the vaccines and see a danger in getting vaccinated.
Two Air Force officers are opposed to the inclusion of the corona vaccination in a list of vaccinations that are mandatory for soldiers. Above all, they see their basic right to physical integrity violated.
The officers’ lawyers questioned whether the corona vaccination was suitable for preventing communicable diseases. They also doubted that Covid-19 was even a dangerous disease – especially for the professional group of soldiers. Among other things, the lawyers accused the RKI of not considering or even manipulating certain data for an assessment.
Officers don’t want to be vaccinated
In the trial at the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, however, an expert from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) underlined the effectiveness of the vaccination. “Protection against a serious illness is very stable six months after the booster, even with the omicron variant, and only slightly decreasing,” said the head of vaccination prevention at the RKI, Ole Wichmann. The protection against a severe course or transmission decreases significantly over time.
The doctor and epidemiologist at the RKI based his information on RKI studies and international surveys in addition to the reporting data from the health authorities. The RKI intends to present current data on the effectiveness of the vaccines in about two weeks. “But nothing will change in terms of protection against severe courses,” emphasized Wichmann.
Many vaccinations are compulsory in the German Armed Forces
Soldiers have to be vaccinated against a whole range of diseases if there are no particular health reasons not to do so. These include hepatitis, measles, rubella, mumps and influenza. On November 24, 2021, the Ministry of Defense made a Covid-19 vaccination mandatory.
Disciplinary action will be taken against anyone who disobeys the vaccination schedule. According to a preliminary survey by the Ministry of Defense, the proportion of vaccinated and recovered soldiers who are currently fully immunized is 94 percent.