About the Corona vaccination obligation discusses the Petitions Committee under Chair of Martina Stamm-Fibich (SPD) at its public meeting on Monday, March 14, 2022. The MPs have two petitions against such compulsory vaccination. From 12 p.m. in hearing room 3.101 of the Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus, there will be a discussion about the demand for a general obligation to vaccinate to be waived. The author of the second petition, which will be discussed from around 1 p.m. Both petitions received more than 100,000 signatures within four weeks and were thus well above the quorum of 50,000 required for public discussion.
The session will live broadcast on parliamentary television and on the Internet at www.bundestag.de.
Compulsory testing instead of compulsory vaccination
“No general corona vaccination obligation” is the demand of the first submission to be discussed. The population must be informed “that people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 can also transmit the virus and therefore only compulsory testing and the same rules for everyone can end the pandemic,” writes the petitioner Jutta Koch. Her petition was signed 133,379 times.
In the submission, Koch refers to Article 2, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law, according to which everyone has the right to physical integrity and personal freedom is inviolable. “People who comply with all rules adopted to protect the general public, such as distance, the obligation to wear a mask and contact restrictions, must not be ‘labeled’ together with corona deniers or right-wing people just because they have decided against vaccination,” it says Petition. After all, the Basic Law guarantees everyone the right to freedom of expression.
Minority protection also for the unvaccinated
It is the task of the Bundestag to “represent the concerns of the entire people,” writes the petitioner. Among other things, she names the protection of minorities, which must also apply to people “who, for whatever reason, do not want to be vaccinated” and the “acceptance of opposition” as important features of a democracy.
Petitioner against compulsory vaccination for nursing staff
As a reaction to the occupational vaccination requirement decided in the federal-state meeting on November 18, 2021, the nurse Stefanie Bresnik submitted her petition to the German Bundestag the following day. In it, Bresnik is “stunned and dismayed” by the decisions. She was particularly shocked by the mandatory vaccinations formulated for health workers. The petitioner demands that such a compulsory vaccination should not be enforced and that a sensible testing strategy be developed instead. 126,251 people have this entry online supports.
According to Bresnik, the health system has been at its limit for some time. The formulated compulsory vaccination ensures “that the system collapses”. Further beds would have to be reduced due to staff shortages and the remaining staff would have to work beyond their capacity limit. “If vaccination becomes mandatory, we are not willing to continue working under these circumstances,” the draft says.
No protection for vulnerable groups
A vaccination that does not protect against infection or transmission of the virus and only promises a mild course cannot become the subject of an obligation, emphasizes the nurse. Station closures due to Covid outbreaks among the vaccinated employees with subsequent infection of the patients to be cared for have shown “that vaccination without testing the staff does not protect the vulnerable groups”.
The opposite is the case: the vaccinated staff felt deceptively safe and appeared without a test, “which has long since become routine for us unvaccinated employees”.
Final vote at a later meeting
In the course of the public meeting, the petitioners are given the opportunity to briefly present their concerns again in order to then answer specific questions from the committee members. Members of the Federal Government also take part in the meeting and can be questioned by the MPs on the issues. The committee will make a final vote at one of its later meetings. (hau/04.03.2022)
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