Since last week, Frank-Walter Steinmeier can be sure that he will remain Federal President for another five years. After the SPD and FDP, the Greens and the Union parties have also declared that they want to elect him for a second term. This can make you more confident – or more comfortable. On Wednesday, Steinmeier invited five citizens to a discussion about compulsory vaccination. And at least at this event it was found that the Federal President had made himself too comfortable.
In November Steinmeier had already invited to a discussion about the pandemic. At that time he made an appeal to the unvaccinated that was almost dramatic for his standards: “If you are still hesitant to get vaccinated, I want to ask you today: What still has to happen in order to convince you?” The Federal President also complained about deficits in politics and administration.
This time his tone was much more moderate. As Federal President, he will not position himself in this round to say yes or no to a general vaccination requirement, he said. A Federal President does not write laws. But he has the task of calling for a public discussion of the question. A general compulsory vaccination is not part of everyday legislative life, and the weighing up and justification should not be commonplace either. In short, this means: “Compulsory vaccination means compulsory debate!”
The Office of the Federal President had therefore invited two participants to the debate on Wednesday who were skeptical about the compulsory vaccination. There’s nothing wrong with that – on the contrary. But when a debate is so important, it should not be poorly prepared. And that is what the Federal President did on Wednesday.
The president could no longer have a say in the matter of lipid nanoparticles
Among the invited citizens were a nurse, a teacher and the manager of a senior care center. The three could have reported a lot from practice in clinics, schools and retirement homes. But they hardly got a word. Instead, the two critics of mandatory vaccination dominated the event – especially Gudrun Gessert from Baden-Württemberg. She complained about a number of alleged shortcomings in the vaccines. Steinmeier had nothing to counter this in several places. He didn’t pay enough attention to the details. And the two experts he had invited couldn’t always help him either. Cornelia Betsch from the University of Erfurt is professor for health communication, Kai Nagel from the Technical University of Berlin works at the Institute for Land and Sea Transport. Neither are medical professionals.
When Gudrun Gessert spoke about alleged deficiencies in the approval of vaccines, the effect of lipid nanoparticles in vaccines or an allegedly very high number of side effects, neither the Federal President nor the professors were able to counter her with enough. “No, I don’t think so,” Steinmeier once burst out. “I would like to have a fact check in retrospect,” said Professor Betsch. With better preparation, it could have happened during the event.