The debate on general vaccination is to take place in the Bundestag next week – regardless of the political challenges of the Ukraine war. A decision on the applications is expected to be made in April. The traffic light groups in particular are currently sticking to these dates. And while Austria suspended the general obligation to vaccinate after only five weeks because it was no longer proportionate due to the mostly harmless omicron variant, Chancellor Olaf Scholz remains undeterred. The chancellor’s opinion has “not changed,” said deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner recently in Berlin. “We need universal vaccination to prepare for fall and winter.”
There are many proposals for a general obligation to vaccinate. There are motions such as a general vaccination requirement from the age of 18, one from the age of 50 and those who do not believe in it at all. This includes many FDP MPs, led by Wolfgang Kubicki. Their credo is: Vaccination yes, but without obligation.
But the pro-camp in the ranks of the traffic light coalition is preparing for mandatory vaccinations undiminished. One of them is the FDP politician Andrew Ullmann. The health politician is the mastermind behind the motion to introduce compulsory corona vaccination for people over 50. Before that, however, the first step should be mandatory vaccination advice with the aim of convincing those affected in this way. Those who are younger than 50 and not previously ill put little strain on the hospitals, argue the initiators of their stage model. This is therefore sufficient and more proportionate than compulsory vaccination from the age of 18.
If Ullmann has his way, the first reading in the Bundestag should definitely take place on March 17th. He told the Berliner Zeitung on Thursday: “The German Bundestag is capable of acting. He can, or better yet, must be able to deal with many different topics. The debate on compulsory vaccination must now take place. The proposals that are available need the summer to be implemented so that they can take effect in the coming autumn.” He also finds it rather beneficial that the media attention is no longer too present in the mandatory vaccination debate, also because of the war in Of Ukraine.
The general obligation to vaccinate will not come, it does not have a majority.
FDP health politician Andrew Ullmann
Ullmann believes that the group application from his camp has good chances: “The general obligation to vaccinate will not come, it does not have a majority. I am sure that the supporters of universal vaccination are also aware of this fact. We are open to talks. Our draft law can be linked to all the proposals that are on the table.”
But SPD politician Dirk Wiese is also sticking to his proposal for general vaccination from the age of 18. He and six other members of the Bundestag from the traffic light groups presented the draft for a “law on education, advice and vaccination of all adults”. Accordingly, the health insurance companies should initially contact all adults personally by May 15, 2022 and provide information about counseling and vaccination options. From October 1st, all adults resident or habitually resident in Germany must have proof of three vaccinations or have recovered and present it to the authorities or the health insurance company on request. Those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and women at the beginning of pregnancy should be exempt. The law is to be limited until December 31, 2023, and its effectiveness will be reviewed every three months until then.
General obligation to vaccinate: How is the Union doing?
Wiese and his FDP supporter Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann and the Green health politician Janosch Dahmen and others have so far had 233 supporters, but they are still missing 135 votes for a majority, Wiese recently admitted.
It will also be decisive how the members of the CDU and CSU behave. So far, the Union only wants a vaccination law that should only take effect if the corona situation actually worsens in autumn. SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, who is striving for broad approval from the Bundestag for general vaccination, recently submitted an offer to the Union for talks. But she reacts cautiously. It is important to make the best of the various proposals, Mützenich recently told Der Spiegel.