Press review
Unvaccinated people should no longer receive wages in the event of a corona quarantine. Most of the German media welcome the decision – but see a problem. The press review.
Unvaccinated employees who have to be quarantined will no longer receive compensation for lost wages throughout Germany by November 1 at the latest. The federal and state health ministers agreed on this date, as Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) said in Berlin on Wednesday. The Infection Protection Act leaves no scope for any other regulation, emphasized the chairman of the conference of health ministers, Klaus Holetschek.
The resolution stipulates that unvaccinated people who have to be quarantined after contact with corona infected people or returning from a risk area will not receive any state compensation if the employer no longer pays wages. Therefore, people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are excluded from the elimination of the compensation. This must be certified by a doctor.
German-speaking media comment on this decision:
Berliner Morgenpost: “The federal and state health ministers agree: Employees who cannot be vaccinated against Corona and therefore have to be quarantined will no longer receive compensation for lost wages anywhere in Germany from November 1 at the latest. As tough as the decision is for the unvaccinated workers, it is the right one. Because of course all the people who have had themselves vaccinated against Corona ask themselves why they should pay for someone who now has to be in quarantine. With their decision, the health ministers are giving responsibility back to the citizens. If you decide against the corona vaccination, you will have to live with the financial consequences. The health ministers, they decided on Wednesday for clarity and consistency.”
Frankfurter Rundschau: “The decision of the Conference of Health Ministers to cancel unvaccinated wages during quarantine is not wise. Anyone who does not get vaccinated without health reasons is acting with disparity. And currently, in most federal states, the general public pays for the costs. But there is a difference to the corona rapid tests, which will soon cost something for people without a vaccination for the same reason. Anyone who wants to go to the café can be expected to pay for the necessary corona test themselves. The new regulation, however, continues to exist: An unvaccinated person who has had contact with an infected person and therefore has to be quarantined is punished with less money at the end of the month. The decision can lead to people trying to bypass the quarantine. Because paying their rent is likely to be more important for many than avoiding contacts. The rule could do the opposite.”
Mitteldeutsche Zeitung: “If the vaccination rate continues to slow down at this level, then the target will not be achieved until the end of the year – if at all. For a long time the hope was cherished that there would be another surge after the summer vacation, because then those who would be vaccinated would also be vaccinated, for whom the vacation trip was more important than a vaccination appointment. But obviously the vaccination campaign is now reaching its limits: there are still those who refuse to accept because they believe in conspiracy theories or are generally skeptical about vaccinations. These people will no longer be able to be reached with advertising and information campaigns.”
Ostfriesen-Zeitung: “No wages for up to ten days. After every closer contact with corona infected people. The decision of the conference of health ministers is a ‘compulsory vaccination through the back door’. Because he can financially ruin vaccination refusals. Especially those who interact with corona deniers, where protective measures are not observed. You will always be the contact person in the delta variant winter. Until they infect themselves. This is the risk of the decision of the Minister of Health. People who already violate corona rules will increasingly look for ways to bypass quarantine. When such contact persons go to work, foci of infection can arise in companies. If that happens, there is a risk of much higher economic costs than would result from continued payment of wages in the quarantine case. The attempt to financially force citizens to vaccinate is risky – and the premature introduction of the new regulation in Lower Saxony is a political declaration of war on those affected. Because until October 11th is not enough time to be vaccinated twice.”
Rhein-Zeitung: “Those who do not get vaccinated prolong the crisis. That’s a fact. So if no compensation payment from tax money will soon be made, that is only logical in the current Corona situation. However, the concern is justified that corona infections may no longer be reported or that quarantine regulations are not being adhered to. For fear of the money. But it is also true: in the corona pandemic, everything could never be controlled, checked and tracked. Nobody wanted that either. In this measure, the signal is most important. And that’s sent.”
Southgerman newspaper: “It’s a tough decision, but the right one. Those who do not want to be vaccinated are putting themselves and others in danger. Vaccinated people can also infect themselves and others. First, however, they become infected less often and, if infected, are less long and less strongly infectious, which is why they pose a lower risk. Second, they usually do not get seriously ill, so they do not jeopardize the goal of preventing an overload of the healthcare system. Anyone who claims the freedom to say no to a vaccination that has been tried and tested a million times may not permanently socialize the follow-up costs of this decision. […] And yet the decision has a flaw. Like the end of the free tests, the state-mandated 3-G rule and the offer to the private sector, pubs and stadiums to be able to use full capacity if hosts and organizers enforce 2 G themselves, it is just another crutch to get on the German rumble path towards immunization not to stumble completely.”
The world: “Unvaccinated people without solidarity? At best, that should be a pretended reason. Why should our community of solidarity then still cover costs for smokers who willfully endanger their health, for example? Or for the consequences of an unhealthy diet? In fact, there is probably another motive behind the decision: The health ministers want to increase the pressure on the unvaccinated. But the federal and state governments are playing a dangerous game. Because the expectation that more people will be vaccinated as a result is a fallacy. On the contrary: those affected could simply withhold contact with corona infected people in the future.”
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