Corona: Bundestag and Bundesrat regulate mandatory vaccination for nursing staff

Corona: Bundestag and Bundesrat regulate mandatory vaccination for nursing staff

The Bundestag has approved a compulsory vaccination against Corona for professional groups in nursing. The Federal Council followed suit a little later.

In the fight against the corona pandemic, the Bundestag has decided on an initial limited vaccination requirement and other crisis regulations. The legislative plans of the new coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP also approved the CDU / CSU on Friday – despite doubts. They stipulate that employees in facilities with vulnerable people such as nursing homes and clinics must prove by mid-March 2022 that they have been vaccinated or have recovered. In addition to doctors, pharmacists, dentists and veterinarians should now also be able to vaccinate. Possibilities for the federal states to regionally tougher regulations are supplemented and extended.

571 MPs voted for the law. There were 80 votes against and 38 abstentions.

“End the corona crisis as soon as possible”

In his first speech in the Bundestag as Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach said that the Ampel Coalition had a lot planned. “But the top priority for us is to protect the population in this health crisis. We will therefore do everything we can to end this crisis as soon as possible.” To this end, the government will work closely with the “constructively elected sections of the opposition”. “This pandemic is a task for all of us. This is not an opportunity for party politics.”

With regard to the new measures, Lauterbach said: “We are giving the instrument what is necessary, locally but also nationwide, to break the delta wave and to prevent the omicron wave as well as we can.” The Minister of Health emphasized: “With the incidence we currently have, the only alternative to closing restaurants and cultural institutions is often to keep the unvaccinated in there.” The delta wave must be pushed back as far as possible by Christmas. Family get-togethers should not only be able to take place, “they should be able to take place safely”.

Union calls for a return to the “epidemic situation”

The Green health politician Janosch Dahmen called on the federal states to implement the measures consistently. “The state must not make itself ridiculous. What is decided must be enforced, otherwise politics and the state as a whole will become implausible.”

Spokespersons for the CDU / CSU criticized the fact that there was no return to the epidemic situation of national importance. Even now, the states did not receive all the necessary powers, said the CDU MP Volker Ullrich. “We now need the state’s full capacity to act.” His party colleague Erwin Rüddel warned: “Constant changes and repair work in the midst of an already dramatic situation only cause growing uncertainty among the population and a decreasing willingness to abide by the rules.”

Left demands premium for nurses

For the left, Susanne Ferschl criticized that too little was being done for the care workers who were under great pressure. “The new federal government is introducing a facility-related vaccination requirement within four days, but cannot agree on a premium for nursing staff.” There is not even a minimal thank you for this. “That is embarrassing.”

Dead vaccines (symbol image)

During the debate, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) repeatedly called for the mask to be worn properly over the mouth and nose in the plenary chamber. This was aimed at the AfD parliamentary group, whose MP Christina Baum demonstratively disregarded the request. Group leader Tino Chrupalla sharply criticized the Corona measures: “The stability of our society is clearly strained by the disproportionate political coercive measures.” Lauterbach’s speech was “demagoguery”.

After the Bundestag, the Bundesrat also approved the amendment to the Infection Protection Act presented by the SPD, Greens and FDP.

Source From: Stern

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