The Union faction in the Bundestag calls for a timely lifting of the vaccination requirement in the health care system. “The proportionality and the need for facility-related vaccination can no longer be justified,” said health policy spokesman Tino Sorge (CDU) to WELT AM SONNTAG. “The federal government has so far refused to carry out a serious evaluation.”
The traffic light also failed to provide a clear positioning on the progress of the regulation. “In the cold season of all times, we cannot allow ourselves any additional staff shortages. I demand a timely lifting of the facility-related vaccination requirement, better today than tomorrow,” said Sorge.
Since mid-March, compulsory vaccination has stipulated that all employees in hospitals, nursing homes and medical practices, for example, must have a double vaccination against Covid-19. From October 1st, the regulation will be tightened to three vaccinations. If an employee does not provide the health department with appropriate proof, they can impose a ban on entry.
The regulation is currently limited until the end of December. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) indirectly indicated in an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG last week that he wanted to extend it. “One of the main goals of our pandemic policy was and is to protect the most vulnerable groups in particular – the elderly, the sick,” says Lauterbach. “That’s why it makes sense that those who take care of them shouldn’t become a danger themselves.”
The minister’s statement also met with sharp criticism from the German Hospital Society (DKG). “Lauterbach ignores the facts. This is a political failure,” said DKG President Gerald Gaß WELT. Politicians must be able to revise decisions once they have been made. “The obligation to vaccinate in the healthcare system no longer makes sense and should not expire at the end of December, but should be suspended now as a matter of urgency.” The Minister of Health himself recently emphasized that the current vaccination does not protect against infection. “The central argument for compulsory vaccination is therefore not applicable,” says Gass.
When implementing the vaccination requirement, the health authorities have the discretion to only impose a ban on entry if patient care is not endangered as a result. According to reports, this leeway is being used extensively by the offices.
In addition to the suspension of the facility-related vaccination requirement, the Union faction in a motion for a resolution on the Infection Protection Act calls on the federal government to clearly define “the specific requirements and vague legal terms”, such as the term “other critical infrastructure”. In this way, legal certainty should be created “when certain measures can be initiated individually in a federal state”. The draft of the application is exclusively available to WELT and is to be finally decided in the parliamentary group meeting on Monday.
In view of the energy crisis and inflation, corona measures should be weighed up “with extreme caution” in terms of their economic consequences, the paper says. Corona protective measures should not lead to “households and businesses that are threatened with their existence being pushed to their breaking point in this extraordinary time”.
The federal government should also make further efforts so that “current decisions can be made to protect vulnerable people and to provide needs-based care for patients”. Blanket reserve decisions should be avoided, such as wearing FFP2 masks or testing without cause from October 2022 to April 2023.
The general FFP2 mask requirement in all public transport and airplanes should also be differentiated and the rights of children and young people should be given even more focus. The Union faction calls for particularly strict standards for interventions in the living environment of children and young people, “in particular to enable daycare and school operations to be as undisturbed as possible.”
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