Parents have to bring their child's vaccination certificate to this privately run daycare center - otherwise they can leave right away: The "Kinderkiste" in Essen and four other affiliated lodges now accept only children who have the vaccinations recommended by the Standing Vaccination Commission or should get if they are old enough.
"Our parent council considers vaccination compulsory and sensible, and many parents join in because they want to protect their children," says Kita operator Jutta Behrwind. Unvaccinated children would be refused at registration, it said. Because some vaccinations are only available when children are already in the day care center, parents should be made aware of this obligation early on.
Vaccination pass instead of baptism certificate
"Just as Catholic institutions can be baptized, we demand proof of vaccination from their parents," says operator Jutta Behrwind. First, WAZ-Online and WDR had reported on it.
Around 60 children, aged from four months to three years, visit the five privately owned private cages, the "Kinderkiste", "BärenBande", "Süd-Stadt-Strolche", "Ruhr-Tal-Räuber" and "West-Stadt-Wichtel " be called. So far, the vaccination status of the children had been queried during registration interviews. If there were any gaps, a vaccination consultation was offered and recommended to the parents, the vaccination voluntarily catch up. Now, however, the 13-parent council of the day care center has declared a duty.
Jutta Behrwind had long struggled for it. "When everyone is vaccinated, everyone is protected too, and there are many sibling children and pregnant moms in our daycare center." However, there have not been any problems with diseases caused by unvaccinated children.
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The response to the measure was consistently positive, Behrwind. Many parents welcomed that now infections with diseases are better prevented. During the ongoing registration talks so far only a single father had criticized the new regulation.
Vaccine dangers fear risks of vaccinations or doubt their effectiveness. However, these positions are almost unanimously rejected as unfounded and unscientific by the experts.
Is the kindergarten allowed to do that? Yes!
According to the city of Essen, private daycare providers do not need a permit from the authorities for a requirement such as compulsory vaccination, says a city spokeswoman. They could set their contracts freely. The health department of the city of Essen considers the measure of the "children's crate" but a good idea. For urban kindergartens, however, no vaccination is planned, said District Manager Rainer Kundt, according to a WDR report.
The Professional Association of Paediatricians supports the idea of compulsory vaccination. "We demand something for all publicly funded institutions and wish us a corresponding legal regulation," says spokesman Hermann Josef Kahl.