The Union is increasing the pressure in the debate on mandatory vaccination

This has already been decided for employees in hospitals and nursing homes. Merz named employees in schools and daycare centers as well as in the police and fire brigade as possible further groups.

The SPD co-chair Saskia Esken is for a general vaccination. “I would like to convince everyone that vaccination is the right way to protect yourself, your loved ones, your loved ones, but also society,” said Esken in the ZDF morning magazine. If this does not work for everyone, “then there must be a compulsory vaccination”.

Reservations with the Liberals

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has already spoken out in favor of compulsory vaccination. FDP boss and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner was open to it. However, there are also reservations among the Liberals.

“I am of the opinion that we can increase the willingness to vaccinate even without a general vaccination obligation,” said the health policy spokeswoman for the FDP parliamentary group, Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, the Handelsblatt. This could be done through a differentiated approach, vaccination offers on site and multilingual education. The very different course of the vaccination campaign in different regions also shows that people can be reached very well.

The FDP politician also referred to unanswered questions such as the duration and scope of protection of a vaccination, as well as the effectiveness of booster vaccinations and the frequency with which they are necessary. “The more often the mandatory vaccination has to be repeated, the higher the expenditure for justification,” said Aschenberg-Dugnus.

In view of the different opinions, the traffic light coalition does not want to submit a legislative proposal to the Bundestag. Instead, a mandatory vaccination, if it comes, should be decided through a cross-party group proposal. Within the traffic light coalition, the Greens in particular are pushing for a quick regulation.

Exchange of blows between Kretschmann and Kubicki

“We now have to see how that develops with the group proposals,” said Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens). “Now one can only hope that there is a group that has a majority in favor of compulsory vaccination.”

Kretschmann criticized the resistance within the FDP to a general vaccination requirement. “The statement by Wolfgang Kubicki that many advocates of mandatory vaccination are about revenge and retribution is simply irresponsible and completely unsuitable for adequately conducting the debate.”

The FDP politician rejected the criticism. “The human dignity guarantee of our constitution also applies to unvaccinated people,” said Kubicki of the Funke media group. “That this immovable essential element of our community is now being questioned in part, I consider extremely worrying,” said Kubicki. “That should also give Prime Minister Kretschmann food for thought, who himself has called for disproportionate anti-corona measures in the past.”

Kubicki has worked with other FDP MPs to prepare a draft application against mandatory vaccination. According to Kubicki, there are now more than 30 parliamentarians involved. These group proposals would then be decided in the coming year in a free vote without group discipline.

It has already been agreed between the traffic light parties that the political debate on a general vaccination requirement will start in January with an orientation debate in the Bundestag, emphasizes the health policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Heike Baehrens.

“A resolution of whatever kind is not accelerated either by populist interjections from individual MPs or appeals from individual prime ministers.” On the contrary, a careful and responsible debate is required. Ultimately, it is not just about a yes or no to the compulsory vaccination, but also about the possible design and scope.

Lots of boosters, too few first vaccinations

The vaccination campaign continued over Christmas. According to the Robert Koch Institute, 65,000 doses were administered on Boxing Day. Almost 59 million people are double-vaccinated, which is 70.8 percent of the population. Around 30 million Germans have received a booster vaccination.

The federal government has thus achieved its target announced in mid-November of administering 30 million doses by Christmas. However, the majority are booster vaccinations. Only around two million were first vaccinations. As a result, the government has postponed its second goal of vaccinating 80 percent of citizens at least once to the end of January. Actually, she wanted to reach the value on January 7th.

On January 7th, Chancellor Scholz and the Prime Ministers are expected to discuss how to proceed in the pandemic. The new Omikron variant is of particular concern. Most recently, the number of reliably proven and probable Omikron cases in Germany transmitted to the RKI within one day rose by 17 percent. 7,225 cases would now be assigned to the new corona variant, the RKI said on Monday.

The seven-day incidence was 222.7. Since many health authorities only work to a limited extent due to the holidays, the figures are only partially meaningful. Late registrations are likely.

Müller: Prepare for waves to come

Union faction vice Mueller said: “Of course it is clear that we will not get the current Omikron wave under control with a mandatory vaccination.” But one also has to prepare for coming waves. “Only with a high vaccination rate can we get out of the constant change of restrictions and relaxations.”

Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) made a similar statement: “If we manage to achieve a high level of vaccination protection in society as a whole, we will be able to deal with the pandemic in the future. We need a vaccination rate of well over 90 percent for adults. ”

Bavaria’s Minister of Health Holetschek has proposed not only to impose fines in the event of violations of the planned corona vaccination, but also to consider financial consequences with the health insurance company. “We should also check whether malus regulations in the area of ​​statutory health insurance would be possible and sensible,” said Holetschek. “Because the risk for unvaccinated people to get seriously ill with Corona is significantly increased,” said the chairman of the conference of health ministers. The federal government should carry out this examination.

Representatives of doctors and patient associations criticized the statements and rejected the request. They fear a dam break and pointed out that there are no supplements in the statutory health insurance for other groups such as smokers or high-risk athletes.

More: 30 million cans inoculated in Germany – the government still has to cash in on the 80 percent target