fighting the pandemic
Bundestag rejects compulsory vaccination for Germany
Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach during the debate on compulsory vaccination in the Bundestag.
© Metodi Popow / imago images
News that will move us in April: In Germany there will be no vaccination for the time being +++ The isolation order will remain and will be reduced to 5 days +++ Corona quarantine will be voluntary from May 1st
The most important news in the BRIGITTE ticker
What moves the world? What moves the BRIGITTE editors? In this ticker we summarize the most important news in April for you.
April 7, 2022
In Germany there will be no compulsory vaccination for the time being
The obligation to vaccinate in any way is off the table. In the foreseeable future there will be neither a general vaccination requirement in Germany nor one from the age of 60. This draft law and a motion by the Union parliamentary group for a phased model failed to achieve the required majority in the Bundestag. The two applications to introduce a general obligation to vaccinate also failed.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach expressed his disappointment at the voting results on Twitter: “It is a very important decision, because now the fight against Corona will be much more difficult in the autumn.”
April 6, 2022
Karl Lauterbach: “I made a mistake here”
First announced and now rowed back again: The voluntary isolation of corona infected people from May 1, 2022 will not come after all, said Karl Lauterbach on Tuesday evening in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”. Instead, the quarantine period should be reduced to five days.
After consultations with the federal and state governments, Lauterbach announced at the beginning of the week that infected people and close contacts should voluntarily isolate themselves for at least five days. Only an “urgent recommendation” would be issued. A specific order from the health department should be omitted.
“The health authorities are simply overwhelmed by the high number of cases. That’s why I made the suggestion that we no longer order the isolation and quarantine through the health department, but leave it to our own responsibility,” said Lauterbach at Lanz.
He still believes that it would relieve the health authorities, but on the other hand the “symbolic damage” caused by the isolation that is no longer mandatory is “devastating”. “I’ll collect this point again,” said Lauterbach. He reiterated his statement on Twitter, adding: “I made a mistake here.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, Lauterbach officially announced that the health department would continue to order the isolation of infected people – the isolation time would be reduced to five days. The quarantine of contact persons, on the other hand, should be carried out independently, so that the health authorities could at least be relieved somewhat.
April 5, 2022
From May 1st, those infected with corona should isolate themselves voluntarily
In many federal states it is already possible to shop again without a mask – despite the still very high number of infections. According to the Robert Koch Institute, 180,397 infections were added across Germany within one day. The seven-day incidence is currently 1,394 (as of April 5, 2022).
From May 1st there will be further relaxation of the infection control measures. Anyone who becomes infected is only given the “urgent recommendation” to voluntarily isolate themselves for at least five days – the same recommendation also applies to relatives and contact persons. The health ministers of the federal and state governments have now agreed on this, as Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach announced. This means that the health department can no longer order isolation or quarantine.
A permanent implementation of the currently applicable rule is not necessary, according to Lauterbach. The background to the easing is the current omicron wave with many, but rather mild infections. The new regulation is intended to counteract the massive loss of staff.
However, stricter rules should apply to employees in the healthcare sector, in old people’s and nursing homes and in outpatient nursing services. The health department should still be able to order a ban on activities here. According to the template, the prerequisites for resumption are significant improvements in the symptoms of the disease and a negative result from a rapid or PCR test – on day five at the earliest.
April 4, 2022
Vaccination requirement from the age of 18 failed – traffic light parties present a compromise
The corona vaccination requirement for everyone over the age of 18 has failed for the time being. The project had not found a majority in the Bundestag and was put on hold by the parliamentary supporters due to a lack of prospects of success, according to the initiators of the federal application.
Instead, there is a compromise proposal: compulsory vaccination for people over the age of 50, according to the Green MP Till Steffen, according to “Die Zeit”. All citizens between the ages of 18 and 49 should undergo mandatory vaccination advice. It is also important that a vaccination register is created, Steffen continued.
The compromise proposal is presented by a group of MPs from the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP. The applicants keep open the possibility of extending compulsory vaccination to all adults if necessary.
Sources used: zeit.de, rnd.de
Any more news?
That was the news in March.