Sunday 25th July 2021
Politics debates new rules
How to deal with the unvaccinated?
The corona virus is spreading again – and politicians want to adjust the rules. A first proposal comes from the Chancellery that would impose new restrictions on the unvaccinated. In addition, the call for new consultations is getting louder. CDU boss Laschet, meanwhile, wants to wait until autumn.
Initially little vaccine – now few people willing to vaccinate and new corona infections are on the rise again. In view of the spread of the delta variant and the concern that the crisis will flare up again with the return of holidaymakers, the political debate about a noticeable readjustment of the crisis policy is beginning. At the weekend, the head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, added a surcharge, bringing restrictions for those who refused to be vaccinated into play. The objection was promptly made. In addition, there are increasing voices calling for rapid federal-state consultations. At the beginning of the week, Braun consults with the 16 heads of state chancellery.
Union chancellor candidate Armin Laschet rejected Braun’s advance. “I do not believe in compulsory vaccinations and do not believe in indirectly putting pressure on people that they should be vaccinated,” he said on ZDF. It is good that the vaccinated, genesis and the tested are on an equal footing with access to events. “When we see in autumn that the vaccination rate is still too low, we have to think further. But not now.”
The FDP is also against it: Party Vice-President Wolfgang Kubicki spoke at the Funke media group of “introducing mandatory vaccination through the back door”. In addition, a “categorization of fundamental rights into a first and a second class is clearly unconstitutional.” The head of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Rolf Mützenich, told the editorial network in Germany that threats would not change the vaccination behavior of individuals in the long term.
The Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, on the other hand, considers compulsory vaccination conceivable. “We are not planning any compulsory vaccination. I cannot rule out compulsory vaccination for all time,” says the Green politician. “It is possible that there will be variants that make this necessary.”
Seehofer: That is not discrimination
Braun had stated that vaccination refusals would have to expect more severe restrictions in view of the rising corona numbers. “Vaccinated people will definitely have more freedom than unvaccinated people,” he told the “Bild am Sonntag”. If there is a high incidence of infection, unvaccinated people would have to reduce their contacts. “This can also mean that certain offers such as restaurant, cinema and stadium visits would no longer be possible even for those who have not been vaccinated because the residual risk is too high.” However, the states and not the federal government are responsible.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” that anyone who refused a vaccination offer could no longer be tested free of charge in the long run. Green leader Robert Habeck is also open to giving people who have been vaccinated more freedom. “At the moment when everyone has been offered a vaccination, solidarity looks like this: You don’t have to get vaccinated, but you can’t expect everyone else to forego their freedom because you haven’t been vaccinated,” said he of the Funke media group.
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told ntv to give vaccinated citizens more freedom than unvaccinated citizens. The “non-vaccinated person must also understand that we have to protect society as a whole and therefore only allow the vaccinated to participate in larger community events.” At the same time, however, the CSU politician spoke out against compulsory vaccination. “We have to convince people to get vaccinated.”
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach also sided with Braun. “Unfortunately, we have to reckon with a significant increase in the number of cases when people come back from vacation and increasingly meet indoors again in autumn,” he told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Then you will “no longer get by with equating the tested with the vaccinated and convalescent”.
Braun said he feared an increase in the incidence to 850 and thus 100,000 new infections daily by the federal election on September 26. He worries about starting school after the summer vacation. “Parents, teachers, caretakers and school bus drivers have to get vaccinated. If these groups are all vaccinated, the risk for the children is less.” A new lockdown is probably no longer necessary. “Because the vaccinated and recovered no longer play an essential role in the infection process.”
Incidence doubled in twelve days
Meanwhile, Söder spoke out in favor of bringing forward the Prime Minister’s Conference. He wanted to try to come to an agreement with the Union-led countries on Tuesday. Because an imminent Prime Minister’s Conference only makes sense if there is really a willingness to take fundamental decisions. For him, this includes bringing forward the new rules for travelers returning to August 1, “because a quarantine regulation only after the holidays makes no sense”. In addition, he called for a binding formula consisting of the incidence value, vaccination rate and occupied hospital beds in order to know when measures have to be taken – “and which rights result for vaccinated persons”. A common vaccination program for schoolchildren must be established independently of the Standing Vaccination Commission.
When it comes to the travel quarantine regulation, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig also calls for stricter rules. “When returning from a risk area, two tests and a quarantine up to the second test should be mandatory,” said the SPD politician to the “Handelsblatt”. A test on return is not conclusive enough. Berlin’s Governing Mayor Michel Müller also pleaded for new federal-state consultations at the weekend.
The President of the World Medical Association, Ulrich Montgomery, recently warned of an increase in infections from travelers returning from Spain and Italy. The virus entry by younger vacationers, who are often not vaccinated twice, will increase, he told the “Rheinische Post”. This must be countered “with consistent quarantine for unvaccinated travelers returning”.
In Germany, the corona incidence has been increasing for 19 days in a row: The Robert Koch Institute reported a seven-day incidence of 13.8 in the morning. Within twelve days, the value has more than doubled, which experts say is also related to vacationers.
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