The degree of similarities between the federal and state governments in corona policy can also be seen from the number and length of the minutes of the states in joint resolutions.

There have never been as many as on Wednesday, and by far the longest and harshest in tone was formulated by Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU).

His government regrets “that the advice from the municipal level to the federal government on the implementation of the facility-related compulsory vaccination has not been heard,” it says.

Stephen Locke

Correspondent for Saxony and Thuringia based in Dresden.

  • Follow I follow

"The requests for help from the many independent providers of facilities in the health and care sector and the criticism of the design have not been taken seriously." Said compulsory vaccination was decided against the background of the Delta variant, but the Omicron variant has "the basic conditions fundamental changes".

More and more people who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered are also infected with it, so that the purpose of the institution-related compulsory vaccination “can currently no longer be achieved”.

Kretschmer has been calling for days to postpone the compulsory vaccination in the healthcare system, which will apply from mid-March.

The concerns from the industry must be heard and it must be thought about in peace, said the head of government.

The main reason for the retreat is, of course, the unwillingness to vaccinate around a third of the medical staff in Bavaria.

According to Health Minister Petra Köpping (SPD), around 100,000 health care workers in Saxony are not vaccinated.

Local politicians have therefore been warning for months of bottlenecks or even a supply shortage in clinics and nursing homes if vaccination is to be rigorously implemented from March 16th.

Most recently, in letters to Kretschmer and Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD), the Saxon district council had demanded that the "facility-related vaccination obligation imposed by the current development" be suspended until a decision was made on general vaccination.

In an open letter to Kretschmer last Friday, 42 mayors from the Ore Mountains also demanded that the mandatory vaccinations that had been decided for mid-March be stopped.

"I find it very regrettable that it was not possible to create an understanding here," said Kretschmer after the federal-state meeting.

The essence of the sectoral vaccination requirement is that unvaccinated employees can no longer work there.

Now the health authorities would have to take the rap by weighing up infection protection and security of supply.

However, the head of government already gave the direction on Wednesday: Saxony will implement the federal law "with moderation and mean".

That means "that the supply has the highest priority".

Employees should not feel offended.

"I don't want these women and men to have to live in great fear for their jobs and their future." On Thursday, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities called for clarity in the implementation of compulsory vaccination at work.

There was still no information on the conditions under which unvaccinated employees could continue to work for a limited period of time, said managing director Gerd Landsberg.

Saxony hesitates, Thuringia makes a plan to implement it

In the neighboring state of Thuringia, on the other hand, the Ministry of Health published a timetable for the implementation of facility-related vaccination requirements.

According to this, the management of clinics and nursing homes must report unvaccinated employees to the health authorities within four weeks from mid-March.

They would have four weeks to get vaccinated.

In the event of a refusal, fine proceedings would be initiated from mid-May.

However, Health Minister Heike Werner (left) appealed to the federal government “not to shift the responsibility for vaccination solely to those who have already been bearing the brunt of the pandemic for two years”.

The faster a general obligation to vaccinate is decided, the greater the acceptance of the occupational obligation to vaccinate, which will avoid the brain drain.

Kretschmer, on the other hand, also opposed a general obligation to vaccinate in the protocol note.

This only makes sense when a vaccination register has been set up and there is sufficient knowledge of other virus variants and vaccines that are effective against them.