Новости

Germany mulls restrictions for unvaccinated people if COVID cases rise

Евроньюс (evronews)

Delta variant spreading in Germany

With the highly transmissible delta variant spreading in Germany, politicians have debated the possibility of requiring vaccination for specific professions, including medical workers. No such requirements have been implemented for now.

During a recent visit to the Robert Koch Institute, the government run disease control agency, Merkel ruled out new vaccine requirements “at the moment." The government would prefer to focus on encouraging vaccination for the time being, she said.

Still, she added, “I’m not ruling out that this might be talked about differently in a few months either."

Winfried Kretschmann, governor of the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, noted Sunday that the delta variant and others that may emerge could make vaccine requirements more attractive down the line.

While there are no current plans to require people to get vaccinated, he told the German news agency DPA, “I can't rule out compulsory vaccinations for all time.

Others immediately pushed back against Braun's comments on Sunday, warning against freedoms and rights based on one's vaccination status.

Of course we need incentives to reach the highest possible vaccination rate,” Marco Buschmann, parliamentary group leader for the pro-business Free Democrats, told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland newspaper group.

Still, he said, if it's true that unvaccinated people who have been tested or recovered from the virus pose no greater danger than vaccinated people, to impose such restrictions on the unvaccinated "would be a violation of their basic rights.