Reactions to compulsory vaccination refusal: “Not a good day for fighting the pandemic”

The Diakonie speaks of “political failure”, the German Hospital Society of a “shambles”: After the failure of compulsory vaccination, many are disappointed. Several politicians want to keep trying.

Even after an application in the Bundestag failed, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has not yet completely written off a general corona vaccination requirement. The result of the vote is a disappointment and will make the fight against the corona pandemic much more difficult by autumn at the latest, said the SPD politician. “In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices in the fall, the attempt should not be given up to achieve mandatory vaccination by then. You should never give up when it comes to other people’s lives. That’s how I think as a doctor, that’s how I think as a politician. ”

A proposal by two groups of deputies, supported by Lauterbach, for vaccinations to be compulsory for everyone over the age of 60 was rejected in the Bundestag. The minister initially wrote on Twitter: “It doesn’t help to assign political blame. We’ll continue.”

“Political failure” and “shambles”

But after the rejection in the Bundestag, many of a vaccination requirement hardly stand a chance. Diakonie President Ulrich Lilie spoke of a “political failure” for which all people who depend on the solidarity of their fellow human beings are paying.

The chairman of the board of the German Hospital Society, Gerald Gass, spoke in the “Rheinische Post” of a “heap of fragments for which all parties are responsible”. He now even has doubts about the further implementation of the facility-related compulsory vaccination decided in mid-March. Gass said he could not imagine that the health authorities would now ban work for unvaccinated people in the health sector.

Employer President Rainer Dulger also reacted disappointed. “This is not a good day for fighting the pandemic,” he said. Vaccination remains a “central building block in the fight against the pandemic”. According to the President of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations, vaccinations can also be used to avoid “drastic restrictions on economic and social life”.

“That is bitter!”

Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil also said in a statement that he deeply regretted that no agreement could be reached in the Bundestag. “That’s bitter!” Said the SPD politician. If vaccination is not compulsory after all, “in the worst case, in autumn and winter we will again experience an overload of the health system and far-reaching protective measures with the associated restrictions for everyone”.

Bavaria’s Minister of Health, Klaus Holetschek, also called for an intensive and rapid search for a solution capable of winning a majority. “It is important to get a general vaccination requirement on the way that makes sense and is legally secure,” said the CSU politician.

Greens criticize Union

The Greens’ state health ministers Manne Lucha, Ulrike Gote, Ursula Nonnemacher and Kai Klose also regretted the result of the vote. “The introduction of a general obligation to vaccinate would have been important and right,” said a joint statement. The most vulnerable groups in society are now suffering the most.

Greens Parliament Secretary Irene Mihalic said: “This is not good news for the fall.” It is all the more important now to prepare a concept to increase the vaccination rate and to take precautions against the increasing number of infections. She also criticized the CDU and CSU: “The Union’s partisan tactics on this important issue are incomprehensible.”

On the other hand, the AfD parliamentary group leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla spoke of a “good day for fundamental rights” and a serious defeat for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Lauterbach. The FDP leadership, in turn, explained their no in the vote in a written statement: A vaccination requirement cannot be sufficiently justified at the moment.