(Berlin) The future German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday he favored compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 to stem the outbreak of infections in the country where politicians are discussing tighter restrictions.
Olaf Scholz “said that he perceived that there were debates on this subject in the Bundestag, all parties included”, told AFP the entourage of the next Social Democratic chancellor.
Do like Austria
The successor of Angela Merkel has, according to this source, “signaled his sympathy for such regulation” Tuesday, during an emergency meeting with Mr.me Merkel and the leaders of the 16 German regions.
Germany has so far ruled out the radical option of imposing vaccination, retained by the Austrian neighbor.
But the debate on this issue has escalated in recent weeks as the country is hit hard by a new wave of COVID-19.
The health situation remains very tense, with an incidence rate of 452.2 per 100,000 inhabitants on Tuesday.
The vaccination obligation was recently decided on for staff in nursing homes and hospitals, as well as soldiers of the Bundeswehr, and should come into force soon.
A generalization of the measure should be approved by Parliament.
The conservative CDU / CSU camp of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is about to move into the opposition, now supports compulsory vaccination.
According to the daily Welt, a large majority of green deputies, who will govern with the Social Democrats, are also in favor.
Measure requested by the majority
The vaccination campaign has enabled the complete vaccination of approximately 57 million people (68.5%) on that date.
Compulsory vaccination, long rejected by a majority of Germans, is now demanded by nearly two thirds of them (64%), according to a recent poll by RTL and ntv media.
Tuesday’s meeting between the federal government, the next coalition and the regions may not lead to any new immediate measures, however. Another meeting should be organized on Thursday.
Several hard-hit regions in Germany have already canceled Christmas markets and barred unvaccinated people from entering public spaces such as gyms and recreation centers.
However, many officials believe that the patchwork of rules is confusing and want to standardize restrictions nationally.
The German Constitutional Court on Tuesday confirmed these calls for a new turn of the screw by deeming legal the radical restrictions imposed at the start of the pandemic to contain infections, including curfews, school closures and exit restrictions.
“Containment for the unvaccinated”
Helge Braun, Chief of Staff of Mme Merkel, told RTL television station that the court ruling indicated “which of the two paths we should take.”
“What must happen is absolutely clear: contacts must be reduced,” said the next vice-chancellor, environmentalist Robert Habeck, on Tuesday.
“The rule” vaccinated-cured “must be implemented in a binding manner at the national level for all public institutions”, with the exception of essential businesses, said the co-leader of the party of the Greens, questioned by the public channel ZDF.
“It is called, it must be said loudly, a confinement for the unvaccinated,” he added.