“I am a bitter defeat,” German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told the state-run Robert Koch Institute, led by Lothar Wheeler.
Yesterday’s failure in the German parliament to introduce compulsory vaccination is, however, a first major defeat for Chancellor Olaf Soltz, who failed to convince lawmakers of the need for it.
This closes this important chapter in the fight against the pandemic in Germany. Vaccination will now be at the discretion of everyone, with the exception of health workers.
Lauterbach did not resign
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, although for many reasons had to resign, with Chancellor Soltz distancing himself from his line after the result, accepted the decision of the parliamentary majority. “I do not expect the issue to return to the vote in the fall and gather the majority,” he said today, refuting yesterday’s statement, in which he supported the view that the issue of compulsory vaccination should be put back to consultation and voting.
Both he and Lothar Wheeler stressed, however, that “the pandemic remains” and that, despite the necessary relaxation in the summer, a new wave will hardly be avoided in the autumn, as scientific data has shown so far. Without mandatory vaccination or new austerity measures in the fall it will be difficult to avoid a resurgence, which may require a new update of the Infection Protection Act. Karl Lauterbach finally stressed that it remains necessary to vaccinate those who have not yet done so and for this reason vaccination campaigns should not be stopped.
As for the coronavirus itself, the Omicron mutation may have been relatively mild for much of the population, however this does not mean that the next mutation may not be accompanied by more severe symptoms. This has been shown by the pandemic so far, said Lothar Wheeler, stressing that epidemiologists continue to look carefully at new data coming from far corners of the globe, such as the appearance of the new X-ray mutation.
Dimitra Kyranoudi, Berlin
Source: Deutsche Welle
Source: Capital
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