Chancellor Angela Merkel rejects any form of mandatory vaccination.
"We do not intend to go this way," says Merkel with a view to France, where President Emmanuel Macron had previously announced a corresponding obligation for employees in the health care sector.
"There will be no compulsory vaccination," emphasized Merkel during a visit to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin.
This would gamble away trust.
Instead, the federal government continues to advertise vaccination.
With a view to the increasing number of infections, the Chancellor appeals to the people in Germany to get vaccinated. "The more we are vaccinated, the freer we will be again," said the Chancellor. With vaccination, a higher incidence can then be better managed. "The pandemic has shown us all that we are mutually vulnerable and that we are all dependent on each other." Merkel warned everyone who was still unsure: "A vaccination not only protects you, but also someone who is close to you."
The chairwoman of the German Ethics Council, Alena Buyx, also believes that a corona vaccination is currently not necessary for certain professional groups. The vaccination rates for teachers and health workers are significantly higher in this country than in neighboring countries such as France, she said on Tuesday in the ZDF morning magazine. In addition, there are better ways to convince people to have a vaccination: good communication and low-threshold vaccinations on site. "So to speak: bring the vaccination to where the people are." That could also apply to the workplace.
In view of a decrease in the number of corona vaccinations administered, the physician Wolfram Henn, also a member of the ethics council, spoke out on Monday in favor of compulsory vaccination for staff in daycare centers and schools.
Buyx said on Tuesday that Henn had spoken for himself, but not in contradiction to the work of the Ethics Council: "But we do not demand something like that."
Söder: “Nothing other than vaccination helps
After the decision in France and Greece, CSU boss Markus Söder also remains in his negative stance. "I am against compulsory vaccinations," said Söder on Tuesday on Deutschlandfunk. This also applies to teachers or students, for example. Söder justified his rejection with the fact that a vaccination requirement was a "strong encroachment on fundamental rights". In the fight against the corona virus, he instead called for an unchecked vaccination campaign. "Nothing other than vaccination helps," says the CSU boss on Deutschlandfunk. Younger people between the ages of twelve and 30 should now be reached as a matter of priority, after the over 60-year-olds have been largely vaccinated. They would have to be given low-threshold offers on site, “vaccination to go or drive-in vaccination, so to speak”.
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, also calls for a more intensive vaccination campaign. You have to reach everyone, he told the Rheinische Post: "I miss the TV spot about vaccinations before the news." If the willingness to vaccinate has so far been low, you have to be informed on the spot. "We don't just have to bring sports clubs, we have to get cultural associations and religious institutions on board for the vaccination campaign."
It is important to reach people who are still undecided through consistent education, said Reinhardt: "I think that every adult has a responsibility to help keep the number of infections low by vaccinating them - also to protect children." So far, they have been the big losers of the pandemic. Another social isolation of children and young people would be irresponsible.
At the same time, Reinhardt spoke out against a restriction of freedom rights for unvaccinated people. This would be tantamount to an indirect compulsory vaccination, which he believes is wrong. So far, not all those willing to vaccinate have been able to take advantage of an offer for immunization. There is still no offer for children under the age of twelve, pregnant women and people with certain illnesses. "These people must not be excluded from social life."