After Austria suspends, at least temporarily, its vaccination obligation against the coronavirus, it is unlikely that such a vaccination will find a majority in the Bundestag in Germany. Although Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) both clearly expressed their support for it, an announced vote does not seem to have enough supporters.
CDU leader and opposition leader Friedrich Merz downplayed the importance of not vaccinating. At a performance by the SPD election campaign on Saturday in North Rhine-Westphalia, Scholz again campaigned for a “mandatory vaccination certificate for everyone”. Health Minister Lauterbach told Deutschlandfunk: “I still hope this will work.”
Different variants to vote for
A majority will be fought for until the last moment. It concerns a rejection of mandatory vaccination, mandatory vaccination from 18 years, one from 50 years and the Union concept of a graduated mandatory vaccination, which should only apply in the event of a difficult pandemic development. The SPD, Greens and FDP have given their deputies the choice of which motion to vote for.
Opposition leader Merz sees a possible failure of the general vaccination obligation in the Bundestag. “If there is no mandatory vaccination in Germany for the time being, we would be in good company in the world,” says the CDU leader’s Twitter account. So far the parties in the traffic light government have not had a majority and the Union’s alternative proposal has been rejected. “In early 2022, there were better reasons for mandatory vaccination,” it continues.
Voltages due to the mask requirement
Meanwhile, tensions in the German coalition over the mask requirement, which the federal government has largely abolished since the weekend, continue. After the FDP member of the Bundestag Andrew Ullmann, initiator of the application for mandatory vaccination from the age of 50, tweeted that there was no danger after the end of the mask requirement and that Germany should “relax”, the health policy spokesman for the Groenen, Janosch Dahmen, replied: Also on Twitter: “Caution is not ridiculous.”
It is good that Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have declared themselves hot spots to maintain the mask requirement in the retail sector.
Infection curve flattening
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), as the responsible disease authority in Germany, reported 74,053 new corona infections within 24 hours on Sunday. That’s 37,171 cases less than Sunday a week ago, when 111,224 positive tests were reported. The seven-day incidence across Germany fell to 1457.9 from 1531.5 the day before. The value indicates how many people per 100,000 people were infected within a week.
42 other people died in connection with the virus. However, the state of Lower Saxony did not report any data on Saturday.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
