The Bundestag rejected the proposal to introduce mandatory vaccination

Since noon, a fierce battle has been going on in the Bundestag over the proposal to introduce the obligation to get vaccinated against the corona and, as the final concession read, only for people over 60 years old. The original proposal of the Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, which was supported by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, envisaged, namely, the obligation of vaccination for all adults.

First of all, a conflict broke out over whether a decision would first be made on the obligation to vaccinate or on the proposal of the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) on the proposal of regulations on the general framework of vaccination of citizens. In the end, however, the first vote was on the mandatory vaccination for the elderly - and there it was obvious that a large number of MPs from the ruling coalition voted against: 296 for, 378 against and nine abstained.

Minister of Health Lauterbach (SPD), before the vote, once again appealed to many representatives of the Liberal Party (FDP), gathered around the co-president of the party, Wolfgang Kubicki. And they, even though they are in the coalition government, were already against the introduction of such an obligation in advance. But, according to the number of votes for, it is obvious that some representatives of the SPD and the Greens were also against.

It is less strange that such an obligation was decisively opposed by Alternative for Germany (AfD) MPs - the president of that party's parliamentary group, Alice Weidel, assessed it as an "encroachment on the physical untouchability" of citizens. But the opposition Christian Democrats also resolutely opposed it, because they did not receive support for their regulation: They want a legal framework for vaccination that would be adapted to the risk of infection.

A reflection of the divisions in society

The key element of their proposal is the register of vaccinated persons, and this was included in the proposal on mandatory vaccination. Such a record of citizens, however, is something that the Liberals do not even want to hear about, so the opposition's proposal experienced an even greater defeat: 172 for, 497 against and nine abstentions.

In the first reactions to that decision, you can also see the discord that reigns on this issue in the entire society: President of the Association of Social Services of Germany, Adolf Bauer, expressed his disappointment and emphasized that "only now" must be discussed and he strives even more persistently for the general obligation to vaccinate.

For their part, representatives of the patient protection association welcomed such a voting outcome, because they are convinced that mandatory vaccination against corona would never have created the collective immunity that is talked about so much anyway, and also, "the obligation to vaccinate was a bureaucratic monster in its implementation, supervision and sanctions against the disobedient".

That's why it's good, they think, that the Bundestag "strengthened the self-determination of citizens", as the representative of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brisch, said. He also emphasized that "it is no contradiction to stand for vaccination and to be distrustful of the obligation to vaccinate."