Fight against fourth wave
“There’s no getting around it”: Demands for corona vaccination are getting louder
An empty advertising pillar is crossed out with the words “Vaccination now!” smeared. Several politicians are calling for a general vaccination requirement in Germany.
© Robert Michael / DPA
In Germany, the number of infections is rising rapidly and the vaccination rate is still too low. As a way out of the pandemic, more and more politicians are now calling for a corona vaccination. But there are also critical voices.
In view of the dramatic nationwide corona situation, calls for mandatory vaccination are louder: Several state leaders no longer ruled out this measure on Tuesday. In his view, such an obligation would “of course be considered,” said Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD). However, there were still skeptical and negative voices – among others from the head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun (CDU). The FDP, meanwhile, signaled readiness for at least partial compulsory vaccination.
Weil said in Hanover when announcing additional protective measures in Lower Saxony that these were also a “very serious attempt” to avoid a general vaccination requirement. However, should containment continue to fail in this way, this is then at the same time a legal “convincing argument” for compulsory vaccination.
Berlin’s governing mayor Michael Müller (SPD) considers the introduction of mandatory vaccinations to be inevitable. “Only the vaccination ensures that we can experience everything the way we want it,” he told RBB on Tuesday. “The high number of unvaccinated people keeps preventing this step towards normalcy.”
Bouffier: “I think it’s constitutionally feasible”
Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) also spoke out in favor of such a measure. There is “no way around” compulsory vaccination if Germany wants to get the virus under control over the long term, said Bouffier in Wiesbaden. “I also think it’s constitutionally feasible.”
NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) called the debate about mandatory vaccination “very understandable” in Cologne, but the content has not yet been determined. A possible “first step” could, however, be compulsory vaccination for certain occupational groups, he said. Before that, however, Wüst called for a broad debate, including the involvement of the Ethics Council, since the state has so far always refused to make vaccinations mandatory.
The CSU board in Munich had already spoken out in favor of a general vaccination requirement on Monday. He stood behind a push by party leader and Prime Minister Markus Söder. Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann also advocated this in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. “Compulsory vaccination is not a violation of civil liberties – it is rather a prerequisite for us to regain our freedom,” wrote the Green politician in a joint guest post with Söder.
Chancellery chief Braun for facility-related vaccination requirements
Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) is also open to a general corona vaccination requirement. “A vaccination requirement must be regulated by federal law. If the future federal government presents a corresponding amendment, then I will support that,” said Haseloff on Monday in Magdeburg when asked by the German Press Agency.
Schleswig-Holstein’s head of government Daniel Günther (CDU) has also shown himself to be open to a general corona vaccination requirement. He still hopes “that in the end it will work without a general vaccination requirement,” he said in an interview with the daily newspaper “Die Welt”. “If not, I am also ready to take this step”. Germany should “not be permanently dominated by this pandemic.”
“A general compulsory vaccination is a very, very sensitive issue. You have to be very careful,” warned Braun on the other hand in the “Welt” to be careful. Such a measure would have “a lot of potential for divisions in our society”. However, Braun advocated facility-related vaccination obligations, for example in the care of the elderly, as the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP are currently examining.
Spahn against general vaccination
The FDP has so far been more skeptical of the project than the SPD and the Greens. The health policy spokeswoman for the FDP, Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, signaled a rethink in this regard on Tuesday. The FDP politician was again critical of a general compulsory vaccination. “However, I think a partial compulsory vaccination for the medical field is conceivable,” she told the news portal Watson.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) has spoken out against compulsory vaccination. The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, spoke against it in “Zeit online” in favor of at least not excluding compulsory vaccinations.
The Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans does not consider a discussion about a general vaccination against the coronavirus to be sensible at the moment. “Compulsory vaccination is not the debate we need now,” said the CDU politician on Sunday evening on the ARD program “Anne Will”. “Now I really ask you to concentrate all your strength on the vaccination.” Now is a time “when the numbers are rising so intensely, where I can convince people to get vaccinated because they also notice that they are losing their freedom,” said Hans. “The incentives have never been greater than now.”
The Göttingen constitutional lawyer Alexander Thiele does not consider compulsory vaccination to be legally problematic. Violations could be punished with a fine, “but imprisonment or forced vaccination are also possible,” he told the Funke media group.
Diakonie President Ulrich Lilie supports calls for a general vaccination against the coronavirus. In view of the increasingly dramatic situation, the state must now meet its obligation to protect human life and act, said Lilie on Tuesday in Berlin. A general vaccination requirement to protect the most vulnerable in society is now the right way to go.