Political disputes and legal uncertainty continue to exist with regard to facility-related vaccination requirements for staff in hospitals or nursing homes.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The corona vaccination requirement is politically controversial enough. To make matters worse, no one wants to control enforcement if a law is actually passed. And with the facility-related vaccination requirement, which will take effect from mid-March, it is still unclear what the consequences are for unvaccinated employees in nursing homes or medical practices.
He thinks that having compulsory vaccinations checked by the health insurance companies is “an extremely bad idea,” said the head of Techniker-Krankenkasse (TK), Jens Baas, at the Europe conference of Handelsblatt, “Wirtschaftswoche”, “Tagesspiegel” and “Time”. This is not their job.
The health insurers made it clear early on that they would like the vaccination data – also to be able to make evaluations of side effects, for example, said Baas. But if they were to collect the data for enforcing compulsory vaccination, they would have “a kind of police function”.
This could undermine the confidence of the insured in the funds. The Central Association of Statutory Health Insurance (GKV) also emphasized that enforcement and control of any statutory vaccination requirement would be “the task of the state”.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
A group of members of the Bundestag from the ranks of the SPD, FDP and Greens recently presented the first key points for a draft law. They want to oblige the health insurance companies to request vaccination certificates from insured persons and to save them. Those who do not want to be vaccinated must expect a fine.
The Jena constitutional lawyer Michael Brenner points out that the area of responsibility of the statutory health insurance funds is “precisely defined by law”, namely in the Social Security Code. “Since such a duty of control is not laid down in the law, a corresponding legal regulation would be a prerequisite for such a transfer of tasks, especially since this would also affect data protection aspects,” said Brenner to the Handelsblatt.
It is still unclear what the consequences of unvaccinated employees are.
(Photo: action press)
That would be different than the 2G rule in retail. Courts such as the Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt recently made it clear that it is permissible and proportionate to impose an obligation on shop operators to check access authorization to shops. The economy had also insisted on a state obligation.
Political disputes and legal uncertainty continue to exist with regard to the institution-specific vaccination requirement for staff in medical and nursing facilities. From March 16, only vaccinated and recovered employees will be allowed to work there.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had announced that he would initially suspend the implementation of this compulsory vaccination in his state because it could not be implemented in its current form and had to be improved. The CDU prime ministers in Saarland, Tobias Hans, and in Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, expressed skepticism.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) sharply attacked Söder: “Laws apply in the rule of law,” he wrote on Twitter. “If the rulers choose for themselves which laws they adhere to and which they don’t, tyranny is not far off.” The Bundesrat had unanimously approved the institution-related vaccination requirement decided by the Bundestag in December.
The Federal Constitutional Court wants to decide on urgent vaccination applications on Friday
On Thursday, Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) announced that the facility-related vaccination requirement would come, but would be postponed by a “few weeks” because many questions were still unanswered. The Federal Constitutional Court wants to decide on urgent applications against the facility-related vaccination requirement this Friday.
Critics fear that nursing staff who are unwilling to be vaccinated will retire from the profession, thereby exacerbating the shortage of skilled workers. However, it is not yet clear how to deal with employees who refuse to be vaccinated.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach insists on enforcing the facility-related vaccination requirement.
(Photo: Jens Schicke)
On request, the Rhineland-Palatinate said that the health and social ministries are currently working with the municipalities to develop the specific implementation steps. Results are to be presented on Monday. On the other hand, the State Chancellery in Schleswig-Holstein announced that the federal and state governments were still voting on implementation issues.
However, it is not just labor law issues that are unclear, for example whether unvaccinated employees are threatened with dismissal. The health authorities are not playing along either. According to the law, employers must report unvaccinated employees to you, and the authorities should then decide how to proceed, for example, issue a ban on activities.
If one assumes that up to ten percent of the employees cannot provide proof of vaccination or recovery, then the health authorities are threatened with a considerable burden that they “cannot cope with in a timely manner”, warned the Federal Association of Physicians in the Public Health Service.
More on this: Crisis on three fronts: Lauterbach loses support for its course in the pandemic