German politicians argue over path to compulsory vaccination

Berlin (dpa) – Government plans for nationwide compulsory vaccination in Germany have become one of the most sensitive political issues in the country, and the pressure is growing on the coalition to explain how it intends to put it into effect.

While most parties on the right and left support such a step, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s original timetable of “the begininng of February or March” is looking increasingly unlikely.

The three parties in the governing coalition have suggested that proposals from individuals or groups of parliamentarians – rather than a single draft law agreed on by the Cabinet – is the best way forward. According to this model, there would then be a free vote in the Bundestag parliament.

The opposition conservatives have criticized this approach, and are calling on the government to produce a draft of its own, in the knowledge that consensus between the left-wingers and the liberals in the coalition may be hard to come by.

Thorsten Frei, a senior member of the conservative bloc in parliament, on Tuesday said the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their allied Christian Social Union (CSU) would not be putting forward a draft proposal in their own right, and put the ball firmly in the coalition’s court.

“If the government believes that compulsory vaccination is a way to get us out of the pandemic, they have to put forward a legislative proposal to that effect,” Frei said.

A health expert from the Greens – the second-largest party in Germany’s centre-left coalition – hit back on Tuesday, saying that the CDU/CSU were playing politics.

“I appeal to the Union [CDU/CSU] not to sacrifice their social responsibility for party tactics,” Green member of parliament Janosch Dahmen told dpa.

Many of the thousands of people who regularly demonstrate in Germany against the government’s coronavirus policies are angered by the prospect of a vaccine mandate. Nearly 30 per cent of the population – including children – are not vaccinated.

The government has already passed legislation to make vaccination compulsory for health and care workers. The law requires staff to be vaccinated by mid-March. One option before the government would be to gradually expand this sector-specific mandate.

Germany’s ethics commission has given its backing in principle to compulsory vaccination.

A senior member of the liberal Free Democrats and deputy speaker of parliament, Wolfgang Kubicki, signalled that progress may not be fast on the issue.

“I am pleased that the German Bundestag is taking time for this. Rushing on this issue, I believe, is the wrong path,” he told broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday.