Pandemic
Left and AfD: Lift compulsory corona vaccination for soldiers
A member of the Bundeswehr comes out of a newly set up vaccination station at the Stuttgart Clinic after a tour. photo
© Marijan Murat/dpa
In addition to a whole range of diseases, Bundeswehr soldiers also have to be vaccinated against the corona virus. When it comes to the question of whether things should stay that way, there is seldom agreement between the two parties.
Politicians of the left and the AfD in the Bundestag are calling for the lifting of the corona vaccination requirement for soldiers in the Bundeswehr, which was introduced at the end of November 2021. This was out of time, said the health policy spokeswoman for the Left Group, Kathrin Vogler, the “world”. “If compulsory vaccination no longer seems necessary for people who work with particularly vulnerable people, then it is certainly not justifiable for soldiers.”
Rüdiger Lucassen, defense policy spokesman for the AfD, told the newspaper: “The corona vaccination requirement was completely disproportionate from the start and has shaken the trust of many loyal Bundeswehr soldiers in the political and military leadership of the not inconsiderable side effects, be immediately removed from the list of vaccinations that require a permit.”
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense said “Welt”: “There is currently no reason to change anything about the obligation to tolerate corona vaccination in the Bundeswehr.”
Soldiers are required to be vaccinated against a wide range of diseases unless there are specific health reasons not to do so. These include hepatitis, measles, rubella, mumps and influenza. On November 24, 2021, the Ministry of Defense included a Covid-19 vaccination as mandatory in the general regulations for the central service regulation “Vaccination and other prophylactic measures”. Since then, there has been a so-called toleration obligation for this vaccination.
The defense policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Alexander Müller, defended the obligation to vaccinate and said: “I reject a general obligation to vaccinate for various reasons. However, the operational readiness of the Bundeswehr also depends on the state of health of the women and men who have voluntarily committed themselves to service. Against this background, I consider the maintenance of compulsory vaccination for members of the Bundeswehr to be justifiable in this special context.”
Bundeswehr on compulsory vaccination