Is there a second attempt for the corona vaccination?

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Majority of Germans regret the failure. Bavaria’s Minister of Health still sees a chance. Intensive care physician Christian Karagiannidis prefers to look ahead.

After the debate about compulsory vaccination is before the debate about compulsory vaccination: In any case, the majority of Germans regret the failure in the Bundestag and in politics, too, a new attempt is not ruled out from the outset. “I think compulsory vaccination still has a chance,” says Bavaria’s Minister of Health, Klaus Holetschek, in an interview with our editors.

The CSU politician points out that there was actually a majority for compulsory corona vaccination not only among the population, but also among the members of parliament. As is well known, the law failed due to tactical games between the government and the opposition.

Nevertheless, Christian Karagiannidis has little hope of a second attempt. He is head of the Divi intensive care register, which provides information about the burden on German intensive care units. “I would have wished for something else, but I’m not in favor of opening the barrel again,” and prefers to look ahead: “We should think about how we can prepare for autumn and winter without compulsory vaccination.”

In a representative survey conducted by Civey pollsters on behalf of our editorial team, 57 percent of the participants stated that the decision in the Bundestag against compulsory vaccination for people over 60 years of age was a mistake.

Supporters of the traffic light parties are divided

The rift that runs through the traffic light coalition on this issue also becomes visible. While 80 percent of the supporters of the SPD and the Greens regret the end, almost 70 percent of the FDP clientele think it is right. The survey also shows that the Union parliamentary group opposed the majority of its own voters with its blockade. Around 55 percent of them think the strategy set out by parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz is wrong, and around 39 percent support it.

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CSU politician Holetschek is at least not happy with the result “It was not a good week for fighting the pandemic in Germany. First the zigzag course with the obligation to isolate, which unnecessarily unsettles people, then the failure of the general obligation to vaccinate,” says Bavaria’s Minister of Health.

He sees the responsibility for this with the chancellor: “I have the feeling that the federal government is giving up fighting the pandemic because the chancellor has rejected a new attempt at compulsory vaccination. Olaf Scholz lets go of the rudder when it gets stormy – I think that’s wrong!”

What will become of the vaccination requirement for nursing staff?

From Holetschek’s point of view, if the project is finally abandoned, the facility-related vaccination requirement for employees in hospitals or nursing homes will also be up for debate. “It was always only intended as a first step on the way to general compulsory vaccination,” explains the minister and announces that Bavaria will act generously if sanctions are threatened. “Anything else would be unfair to those who have been fighting the pandemic on the front line for two years,” says Holetschek.

Experts also disagree as to whether Corona will come back with force in autumn without vaccination. “We could be unlucky if a more contagious variant develops out of Delta. This danger resonates,” says Karagiannidis, but also emphasizes: “This is currently a look into the crystal ball. You can’t make a serious assessment of that yet.”

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