Friday, January 07, 2022
Duty is on the brink
Traffic light government verbaselt the compulsory vaccination
A comment by Christina Lohner
A few weeks ago, all of a sudden, all signs point to mandatory vaccination. But now the project of the new federal government threatens to fail. The traffic light wastes valuable time.
At the latest when FDP leader Christian Lindner made the U-turn and signaled approval, the matter seemed clear: Germany is still introducing a general compulsory vaccination against the corona virus. The Ethics Council also changed its mind in November and suddenly flirted with it, but above all politicians from all camps. The mandatory spades seemed only a matter of time.
But suddenly the compulsory vaccination is in question again. The briefly “lost” liberals remember their brand essence: freedom, which in their eyes even stands above health. FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki unites more and more opponents of mandatory vaccination behind him. Omikron has supposedly reshuffled the cards – because the traffic light government is taking too long. You should now get the vaccination on the way as quickly as possible, instead of wasting more valuable weeks.
Numerous arguments now seem to speak against an obligation for all citizens again: Vaccinated people also transmit the Omikron variant, which, according to the current status, also leads to less severe courses. From a legal point of view, an obligation becomes more difficult again, but conclusive findings on the dangerousness of the mutant are still lacking. Regular booster vaccinations may also be necessary after just a few months. Germany, which is otherwise so well organized, failed because of the first injections for everyone. And who should control all the mandatory pikes and how?
Scholz should speak power
Above all, compulsory vaccination remains a serious interference with the physical integrity. The Ethics Council does not unanimously support a general obligation, only 13 of the 24 members are in favor; 7 would only prefer an obligation for the particularly vulnerable such as the elderly and the sick, 4 generally reject an obligation.
So for a good reason, politicians and experts alike have long had concerns. When the wind finally turned, the new government made the typically German “mistake”: The duty that was now desired should be discussed in peace and with all thoroughness. This approach is fundamentally completely correct for our country with its history – but only helps to a limited extent in a pandemic. Nobody should want an authoritarian state back, but in this exceptional situation more speed would have been required, as in Austria, for example.
At the end of March, the traffic light coalitionists met now set as a belated goal for a decision. MEPs, however, are exempt from parliamentary groups and work on cross-party motions that they can reconcile with their conscience. That could take longer than planned – and shift the majority back in favor of opponents of mandatory vaccination. To prevent this, Chancellor Olaf Scholz should submit his own proposal instead of delegating the decision to parliament.
Only confirmed the skeptics
It was right to reject compulsory vaccination at the beginning of the pandemic, too many questions were unanswered at the time. However, the U-turn in the past few months was also correct. Because the vaccination rate in Germany is simply too low to get out of crisis mode. We cannot afford it to become permanent. The financial damage cannot be cushioned forever, and we have long been in front of a social mess. Entire generations and population groups are threatened with lasting psychological damage as well as educational gaps, which can destroy entire biographies, especially for the weakest.
Should the compulsory vaccination fail, the new government will achieve the opposite of its goal of increasing the vaccination rate: the skeptics were even reinforced in their rejection. Supporters of conspiracy theories had expected a duty from the start, although the previous government emphasized like a prayer wheel that it would not exist. Unfortunately, in the end, they felt confirmed. The rejection of the state and corona measures was certainly further strengthened, instead of encouraging vaccination opponents to voluntarily vaccinate.
Without a general obligation, not even those who oppose the vaccination could talk their way out of it, who have since changed their negative attitude. In order to be able to show real success in fighting the pandemic, the new federal government should have done nails faster. One can only hope that the missed opportunity is not a foretaste of future decision-making processes in the three-party alliance.