Germans divided on restrictions for the unvaccinated | Economic news

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BERLIN (AP) German politicians were deeply divided on Sunday after a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff that restrictions for unvaccinated people may be needed if the number of COVID-19 infections reaches new highs in the coming months.

Chief of Staff Helge Braun told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper he did not expect another coronavirus-related lockdown in Germany. But Braun said unvaccinated people could be denied access to places such as restaurants, cinemas or sports stadiums because the residual risk is too high.

Braun said getting the vaccine is important for protecting against serious illnesses and because people who are vaccinated will certainly have more freedoms than people who are not vaccinated. He said such policies would be legal because the state has a responsibility to protect the health of its citizens.

His comments fueled debate in German politics over potential vaccination requirements. The issue has proven to be controversial, even within Merkel’s own Christian Democratic Party. His candidate to replace Merkel as head of Germany, Armin Laschet, has said he currently opposes any formal or informal vaccine requirements.

I don’t believe in mandatory vaccinations and I don’t think we should put indirect pressure on people to get vaccinated, he told German TV station ZDF on Sunday. In a free country, there are rights to liberty, not just for specific groups.

If vaccination rates in Germany remain too low this fall, other options could be considered, Laschet said, adding but not now.

With the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant in Germany, politicians have debated the possibility of mandatory vaccinations for specific professions, including medical workers. None of these requirements have yet been implemented.

Germany’s vaccination efforts have slowed in recent weeks and this has led to discussions on how to encourage those who have not yet received a vaccine to do so. Over 60% of the German population has received at least one dose while over 49% are fully vaccinated.

During a recent visit to the Robert Koch Institute, the government’s disease control agency, Merkel ruled out new vaccine requirements for the time being, ”but added: Nor do I rule out that could be discussed differently in a few months.

Other elected officials adopted a similar tone. Baden-Württemberg governor Winfried Kretschmann, a member of the Greens, noted on Sunday that the delta variant and others that may emerge could make vaccine requirements more attractive over time.

Although there are currently no plans to force people to get vaccinated, he told German news agency dpa that I cannot rule out mandatory vaccinations forever.

Karl Lauterbach, health expert of the center-left Social Democrats, spoke in favor of possible restrictions. He told the Sddeutsche Zeitung that soon one of the only options left to combat the new variants will be to restrict access to spaces where many people gather “to those who have been vaccinated or cured of the virus.

Others immediately rebuffed Braun’s comments on Sunday. Some expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of such restrictions, while others cautioned against having rights based on one’s immunization status.

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

Yet, he said, if unvaccinated people who have been tested for or recovered from the virus do not pose a greater danger than vaccinated people, imposing such restrictions on the unvaccinated “would be a violation of their basic rights.

Rolf Mtzenich, leader of the Social Democrats parliamentary group, said politicians should focus more on vaccinating volunteer citizens than on penalizing the unvaccinated.

We are not going to permanently change the vaccination behavior of people at risk, he told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.

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