Friedrich Merz outlines the Union’s vaccination proposal
Corona chaos, Russia conflict – has Germany failed?
WELT Editor-in-Chief Jan Philipp Burgard presents the new WELT Talk. Topics of the first program are the crisis in Ukraine, the fight against Corona and the reorganization of the CDU. Guests are Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens), the new CDU leader Friedrich Merz and the virologist Hendrik Streeck.
From the age of 50, with a vaccination register, but only for the next wave: The Union is working on its own plans for compulsory vaccination. In the new WELT Talk, the newly elected CDU leader presented the basics of a draft. He directed harsh criticism at Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
CDU boss Friedrich Merz outlined the Union’s plans for compulsory vaccination. He could imagine a staggered vaccination requirement – but one that should only apply to a possible next wave, said Merz in the new WELT Talk. Such a rule would then have to be sharpened with another Bundestag resolution if necessary.
“We are now talking about compulsory vaccination, which is, so to speak, enshrined, for which the conditions are created and – that will be our proposal – which does not come into force today, but which is made possible by a legal basis in order to get ahead of the curve come and then trigger it through a new Bundestag resolution,” said Merz.
It could also be decided that in autumn only those over 50, over 60 or over 70 would have an obligation to be vaccinated. “I think that’s the best way to get out of this dilemma,” Merz continued.
The cornerstones of a draft by the Union faction for a “flexible compulsory vaccination”, which should apply to particularly dangerous corona variants, were already known at the weekend. Merz wants to present a draft for the Union proposal for compulsory vaccination in the next week of the meeting.
“We are discussing this question very intensively,” said Merz. One problem is the implementation: Germany has not created the data protection options to introduce a vaccination register or to access the data from the registration offices as in other countries. “If we were to go in the direction of universal vaccination, we would probably have to create these conditions as well.”
Merz expects the federal government to communicate better about mandatory vaccinations. “We are not talking about compulsory vaccination that will be written into law tomorrow,” said the CDU chairman. “I would have expected the Chancellor to say that clearly. He’s been standing up for weeks and saying, ‘I’m in favor of universal vaccination’ and won’t say which ones, and when, and under what circumstances.”