Bavaria does not want to implement compulsory vaccination for nursing staff for the time being


Dhe Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder has announced that he will allow “the most generous transitional regulations” to apply to the institution-related compulsory vaccination, which is due to come into force in mid-March. After intensive discussions with sponsors and municipalities, he does not see implementation by March 15th, said the CSU chairman after a board meeting of his party on Monday in Munich. He spoke of a “de facto suspension of enforcement”. By how many months, that remains to be seen. Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) will present more details this week.

The partial vaccination requirement is “not an effective way” to dampen or stop the omicron wave, said Söder. However, it could lead to a significant deterioration in the staffing situation in hospitals or retirement and nursing homes if nursing staff resigned. Söder sees this danger primarily in the facility-related vaccination requirement, not so much in the general one, for which he is still.

Sharp criticism came from the SPD. The Bavarian government is thwarting the joint decision by the federal and state governments and the law broadly supported by the CDU/CSU, said the health policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Heike Baehrens: “If the CSU suspends compulsory vaccination, it is evading its responsibility for this protection to guarantee. That sends a fatal signal.”

Söder also advocated extending the convalescent status from three to six months, which would be “an important signal”. He also suggested lifting travel restrictions for countries whose incidence numbers are sometimes lower than those in Germany. Bavaria wants to relax further in the Corona policy. In gastronomy, for example, the curfew, currently 10 p.m., should be abolished. For body-related services such as medical foot care or hairdressers, the 3-G rule should now apply instead of the 2-G rule, which means that even people with a negative antigen rapid test can now have their toenails or hair professionally cut again.

In addition, 75 percent of the visitor space can be used for cultural events in the future (previously it was 50), and for sporting events such as Bundesliga games it is now 50 percent instead of the previous 25 percent, with an upper limit of 15,000, each combined with 2-G-plus . The latter means that vaccinated and recovered must have a negative rapid test unless they are boosted.

Söder spoke out in favor of maintaining face-to-face teaching at schools. This is not only important for the level of performance and educational equity, but also justifiable in view of the pool tests in primary and special schools as well as in the fifth and sixth grades.
The Bavarian Prime Minister said that the situation in the hospitals, which is still not tense despite the very high incidence, enables a “gentle and controlled opening”.

In the most recent prime ministers’ conferences, there was “usually very little progress”; Now Bavaria wants to set its own “accent” in order to “enable” “clearer and quicker and maybe also braver steps” elsewhere. Bavaria also expressly reserved its own measures in a preliminary vote by the heads of state chancellery. What had recently come from the traffic light government and the Chancellery on the subject of Corona – and not only on this subject – was summarized by Söder as follows: “Wait, wait, wait”. He also criticized the federal government’s vaccination campaign, saying it was “uninspired”. He suggested doing a separate vaccination campaign for the new protein vaccines.

The so-called institution-related vaccination obligation, which is supposed to take effect from March 15, was anchored in the Infection Protection Act. Specifically, it says that employees must present their employer with proof of vaccination or recovery by March 15, or a certificate that they cannot be vaccinated. If the proof is not presented, the health department must be informed. If, despite a subsequent request, no proof is submitted within a period of time, this can result in a ban on entering or working in the clinic or care facility.

A debate had recently broken out about the implementation of compulsory vaccination for nursing staff. The German Foundation for Patient Protection had already called for the vaccination requirement for nursing staff to be postponed. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had recently strictly rejected this. Diakonie boss Ulrich Lilie accused the federal and state governments in the FAZ interview of a lack of professionalism in the implementation – although he is responsible for the duty.

In an interview with the FAS, Söder himself had asked for a postponement of the partial vaccination requirement to be examined. “Otherwise, the healthcare system could be overburdened simply by the migration of nursing staff because of the obligation to vaccinate.”



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