Parliamentarians are still divided on the implementation of compulsory vaccination.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants vaccinations to be compulsory from the age of 18, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach anyway – and many Prime Ministers had also spoken out in favor of it. That didn’t help: according to Handelsblatt information, the project is in danger of failing. Talks between the Union and the SPD on Wednesday were unsuccessful. The factions had met at Scholz’s request to explore a possible compromise.
The background is that the corresponding initiative in the Bundestag with 220 supporters from the traffic light groups does not have a majority. The Union continues to insist on its application, which makes vaccination for certain age groups dependent on the infection process. “A vaccination requirement from the age of 18 is not capable of winning a majority,” it says from circles in the Union faction.
Talks between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP then took place on Thursday. The goal: to save the vaccination requirement in some form. A result is still pending.
A possible compromise could be compulsory vaccination from the age of 50 – and thus the application that has so far had the least support in the Bundestag with 40 supporters. Initiator Andrew Ullmann (FDP) recently told the Handelsblatt that the proposal “could also be a compromise that the CDU could accept compared to compulsory vaccination from the age of 18 or no solution at all”.
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It is impossible for his group to move in the direction of compulsory vaccination from the age of 18. The project also has a prominent supporter in SPD General Kevin Kühnert.
However, there is still no confirmation from the SPD parliamentary group that the vaccination requirement for all adults is off the table. “The talks are ongoing, there is no new status,” the Handelsblatt learned from faction circles. The Greens also refer to this.
369 votes are required for an absolute majority. Without the votes of the Union, it is said from the traffic light, the vaccination requirement would have failed even with a compromise, since a small part of the traffic light is against any form of obligation. A vote in parliament is planned for April.
Lauterbach relies on compromise
Federal Health Minister Lauterbach had expressed his confidence on Wednesday that a compromise could be reached. He expects that this will reach his ministry in the next few days at the latest, so that a joint draft can possibly be formulated.
The lines of compromise that are emerging are convincing and wise. He assumes that this important law can be enforced, Lauterbach added. A lot would depend on this with a view to the situation in autumn. Lauterbach did not provide any further information on the compromise lines.
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