Berlin (dpa) – With a compromise proposal, supporters of a general coronavirus vaccination are trying to avoid the failure of the project a few days before the vote in the Bundestag.
On Monday, the group of MPs who had until then advocated compulsory vaccination from the age of 18 – including Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) – presented a weakened proposal. It only advocates compulsory vaccination from the age of 50, which, depending on the pandemic situation, could also be extended to younger citizens by a later decision of the Bundestag.
Lauterbach campaigned for the compromise: “Anyone who wants compulsory vaccination can end up here. But those who vote against risk being blocked and suffering again in the fall.” The Union immediately rejected the offer: the parliamentary group’s health policy spokesman, Tino Sorge (CDU), told the “Rheinische Post” and the “Welt” that they would not accept it. The proposal is a transparent misleading package. “It has a double bottom. Behind the initial vaccination obligation from the age of 50 hides a vaccination requirement from the age of 18, to which sections of traffic lights obviously cling desperately.”
decision thursday
Thursday, after months of debate, the Bundestag must decide on the introduction of compulsory vaccination in Germany. There is no sign of a majority in favour. With their compromise offer, the 237 supporters of compulsory vaccination from the age of 18 therefore take up the proposals of the other parliamentary groups and try to combine them with their concept.
A group of 45 deputies around the elected FDP for health Andrew Ullmann had offered vaccination advice and possible vaccination from the age of 50. The Union is in favor of setting up a vaccination register and can theoretically imagine the vaccination of particularly vulnerable groups. The difference with compulsory vaccination from the age of 18, who want immediate vaccination: Both would be step-by-step procedures. Before compulsory vaccination can come into force, the Bundestag would have to decide again depending on the pandemic situation.
Ullmann and his colleagues therefore also rejected the compromise proposal on Monday. We cannot accept this in its current form. “A requirement for immediate vaccination from the age of 50 without taking into account the many unknown variables in the fall, from conceivable viral variants to the level of immunity in the population, cannot be sufficiently justified on the basis of the current situation of data.”
Vote without faction pressure
A non-partisan procedure had been agreed for the vote on compulsory vaccination on Thursday. MPs are expected to vote without the usual factional pressure, which is why various parliamentarians have joined forces across party lines and put forward their proposals.
In addition to the above, there is also a demand from a group led by Deputy FDP Wolfgang Kubicki against any requirement for vaccinations. Left-wing politicians Gregor Gysi and Sahra Wagenknecht, among others, joined. They argue that politicians have repeatedly promised that there will be no general obligation to vaccinate. The AfD has also filed a petition against compulsory vaccination.
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