ANALYSIS: Will Germany introduce a vaccine mandate this year?
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Loading... - Farida Jabrane
- 22 Mar 2022
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Germany has been discussing the product of a population-wide vaccine mandate since November 2021, but progress on the issue has been incredibly slow.
A brief review of the first debate on the mandate in the Bundestag on Thursday gives an indication of why.
A number of different parliamentary factions and alliances have formed around different views on the controversial topic. Some are calling for a more hard-line version of the mandate, others calling for a softer version, and some reject the idea entirely.
Buzzing away in the background, there are also fundamental disagreements around more practical questions, such as whether to introduce a vaccine register or track the vaccinations a different way, such as through insurance companies.
As politicians took to the podium to make their speeches on Thursday, there were signs that the past few months have only solidified these positions.
If the numbers of the cross-party factions remain the same until the vote in April, there will be no majority for any of the proposals, which could ultimately mean no general mandate.
This would clearly be seen as win by those against a mandate and would come as a major blow to the traffic-light coalition, who have struggled to unify around any one plan.
But it remains to be seen whether some pro-mandate MPs could modify their positions to ensure that at least one version of the general mandate succeeds.
Here’s what the situation looks like right now.
What proposals are on the table?
There are currently two bills in favour of general vaccine mandates competing for votes in parliament.
The first is a general mandate for all over-18s put forward by a group of SPD, FDP and Green Party politicians. If this bill passes, all adults who have lived in Germany for at least six months would have to provide proof of full vaccination or recovery after October 1st this year. There would be exceptions for under-18s and anyone with a medical condition or those for whom vaccination is not recommended, such as women in the first three months of pregnancy. Details of the bill would be reviewed every three months and the legislation would expire at the end of 2023.
The second is a proposal for a vaccine mandate for over-50s and a mandatory consultation for all other adults. This bill was put forward by a cross-party group of MPs surrounding FDP health expert Andrew Ullmann, including a number of SPD and Green Party politicians. If passed, all over-18s would have to provide proof a medical consultation or vaccination certificate by September 15th, while over-50s would be required to provide proof of vaccination or recovery by this date.
MPs will also consider a third bill put forward by the FDP’s Wolfgang Kubicki, the Left Party’s Sahra Wagenknecht and a handful of other MPs from the CDU/CSU, Left Party and Green Party. This bill rejects the idea of a vaccine mandate and proposes a number of other measures to improve the take-up of vaccines instead. These include: investigating the current immunity status of the population and the improvements needed to ease the burden on hospitals; writing to citizens personally to invite them to a vaccination appointment; offering multilingual advice centres and stepping up targeted promotion campaigns, particularly in community groups, sports clubs and religious centres. Read More...
