In view of the worsening corona situation, the advises German ethics council to examine compulsory vaccination for certain professional groups. “In view of the current pandemic situation, the council now recommends, without a dissenting vote, with three abstentions, a serious and rapid examination of a job-related compulsory vaccination in areas in which particularly vulnerable people are cared for,” the panel announced on Thursday.
Of the Ethics Council specifically named people who care for the seriously or chronically ill as well as the very old – “Like medical and nursing staff, but also employees of social services, everyday support or housekeeping”. They have “a special responsibility not to harm those entrusted to them”. “The same applies to institutions and facilities that are responsible for not exposing the people cared for there to any avoidable health risks.”
The Ethics Council recommend the Federal government, “immediately to examine a sufficiently differentiated legal regulation for a job-related vaccination requirement and, if necessary, to prepare a practicable and effective implementation“. In doing so, “widely discussed concerns about possible negative consequences of such a measure, such as career exits in the occupational groups concerned,” must be taken into account. However, these are “to be assessed within the framework of the duty to protect people from high-risk groups”.
The Ethics Council is a body that aims to provide guidance for politics and society with its opinions. Its members are appointed by the President of the Bundestag.