It was not an easy task for the Ethics Council to provide guidance on the mandatory vaccination that had actually already been decided.

In the political discussion, the impression was given that compulsory vaccination is the panacea that puts the rapidly worsening pandemic into an endemic state.

But there can be no question of that.

"Even a general statutory vaccination obligation that has yet to be introduced will not be able to break the current fourth wave of infections," states the Ethics Council.

Heike Schmoll

Political correspondent in Berlin, responsible for the “educational worlds”.

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The Council does not want to be a procurement machine for legitimation that subsequently sanctions political decisions.

On December 2nd, the Federal Government and the Conference of the Prime Ministers asked the committee to give an assessment of the ethical aspects of a general statutory vaccination requirement.

With its ad hoc statement published on Wednesday “Ethical orientation on the question of a general statutory vaccination requirement”, the Ethics Council wants to provide arguments and contribute to an objectification of the polarized debate.

Buyx: Politics has room for maneuver and design

It was by no means foreseeable that the majority of the Ethics Council would decide in favor of recommending a general vaccination requirement that goes beyond the area-related vaccination. Twenty members voted in favor, four against. “The Ethics Council cannot resolve the implementation issues of a general statutory vaccination requirement, but it can point out the measures with which its introduction must be flanked. The paper opens up room for maneuver and design for politicians, which they should then use responsibly. But it also points to the big problems, ”said the chairwoman of the ethics council Alena Buyx of the FAZ

At the beginning of 2021, it was expected that a vaccination rate of 70 percent of adults could be sufficient.

But that changed quickly over the course of this year.

At least 90 percent of adults must be vaccinated against the Delta variant and against Omikron, which Germany is far from.

In addition, there is the fear of further vaccination breakthroughs.

All of this flows into the statements of the Ethics Council.

He therefore underlines the dynamic development of the pandemic, the continuously changing level of knowledge, which can result in a consistent revision of the recommendations.

It starts with the fact that a single or double vaccination requirement is not sufficient, but according to the current state of knowledge it must be at least three vaccinations, but a fourth could soon be necessary.

Good reasons from the politically responsible

The Ethics Council emphasizes that a statutory vaccination obligation always represents a significant impairment of legally and morally protected goods.

In his opinion, its expansion can only be justified if it is able to mitigate or prevent the serious negative consequences of possible future pandemic waves such as high mortality, long-term health impairments to significant parts of the population or an impending collapse of the health system.

And if it helps in the medium and long term to avoid further encroachments on fundamental rights through protective measures that would not be necessary if the vaccination rate was high (travel bans, curfews, bans on appearances, quarantine, threats to professional existence, etc.).