Germany: The debate on compulsory coronavirus vaccination is escalating

Under the pressure of the new outbreak of the pandemic, the debate on the possibility of imposing mandatory vaccination against Covid-19 is escalating in Germany. Medical associations, scientific institutes and politicians are in favor of a general compulsory vaccination as the only way out of the crisis.

The Association of Pediatricians and Adolescents (BVKJ) today formally calls for the introduction of general compulsory vaccination, noting that “it is unacceptable, due to insufficient vaccination of a minority, to restrict the fundamental rights of all citizens, but especially of children and adolescents.” The Union recognizes that compulsory vaccination formally restricts the right to physical integrity, but stresses that this is acceptable because otherwise the rights of others would be affected or restricted. “Children’s rights should not be weighed against the rights of a minority of citizens, but should be guaranteed unconditionally and imperatively by the state. Our children deserved to return to normalcy, after the enormous restrictions imposed on the pandemic,” the statement said. BVKJ, which also notes that “the basic rights of children, for unrestricted and free education and the free development of the personality, are endangered if timely vaccination of all adults is not possible”.

As the pediatricians point out, with 15 million unvaccinated at the moment, we could have 15 million new cases and therefore a number of deaths that could exceed 100,000. “This number alone reminds us to reconsider whether the state should expose people to this danger, despite the almost unanimous advice of medical science to the contrary. In addition, refusing vaccination entails an additional number of cases and among those “Unvaccinated people therefore restrict the right of others to physical integrity,” the BVKJ ruling said.

The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wheeler, referred the same issue to the World Health Organization, which recommends, “if you have tried everything else, you should also consider compulsory vaccination.” Speaking last Sunday night on the first channel of the German public television ARD, Mr. Wheeler stressed that “we must make sure that as many people as possible are vaccinated and that those who have already been vaccinated will come for their booster vaccination”, but , stressed, “as a last resort, I am with the WHO”. There is no one who would like to impose the vaccine, he continued, but now we know well what we have to do and we must use this knowledge. “Many have realized that we are facing a medical emergency and much more should have been done. But now we have to put an end to the ‘laissez faire,'” Mr Wheeler said.

In the same vein, Social Democrat (SPD) spokesman Karl Lauterbach told BILD television today that “without a vaccination obligation, the vaccination rate will not increase as much as is needed to bring the pandemic under control.” that the number of those in favor of compulsory vaccination is increasing day by day. However, he, who is also a professor of epidemiology, expressed the belief that the booster dose of the vaccine will protect for a longer period of time than the previous two.

In the same debate, the vice-president of the Liberal Parliamentary Group (FDP) Michael Toirer, who is considered a candidate for the Ministry of Health in the next government, did not want to rule out the possibility of mandatory vaccination, but noted that his party would consider it unconstitutional.

SOURCE: AMPE