One of the paradoxes of this pandemic is that the catchy word “carnival” can accelerate the introduction of mandatory vaccinations. In any case, SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert said on Monday in the Willy Brandt House: “My calendar doesn’t provide for too many carnival dates in February.” Understandable: Kühnert is Berliner.
The former Olaf Scholz critic Kühnert now swings up to his top defender, that is his job as the new SPD general secretary. The problem: The general compulsory vaccination wanted by the Federal Chancellor is delayed. Also because of the carnival, there is only one session of the Bundestag in February, from February 14th to 18th.
At the beginning of February there are also winter holidays in countries like Berlin, and the Federal Assembly for the election of the Federal President (February 13) must be prepared. Kühnert is therefore open to special sessions during the carnival week. CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak also offers this.
The Jeckenfeier will only take place to a limited extent in 2022 due to the pandemic, and its cultural fascination is not understood equally in all parts of the country. That is why there is now new movement in the matter. With special sessions, the Federal Council, which is required for approval, could possibly also approve the law on March 11th – instead of April 8th at the earliest. And the compulsory vaccination does not only come into force from May or June, as it seems so far.
What Scholz said
Kühnert explains that Scholz had not promised so specifically that vaccination should apply by February, at the latest by the beginning of March, and that he had watched the statements on television again. She couldn’t help against Omikron anyway, because the problem was already there. Literally said Scholz, for example, on November 30th on ZDF: “You (the vaccination – the editor) must come at a time when everyone who now decides to get vaccinated and has not yet been vaccinated, realistically could have had two vaccinations. That is why I think it would be right if it applies to everyone from the beginning of February, the beginning of March. ”
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The government spokeswoman squirms
Scholz, who is now being criticized for delivery problems, makes himself rare that day. The new deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann has to wriggle for him. Your answers are always coordinated with the Chancellery beforehand, and Scholz simply released a few dry sentences. “The Chancellor stands by his conviction that there should be a general compulsory vaccination. The schedule lies with the German Bundestag, ”says Hoffmann. And no, there will still be no government proposal of its own. It is up to the MPs to draw up proposals.
A group around the FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki wants to put an application against mandatory vaccination to a vote, then one is planned for mandatory vaccination from the age of 18, and the Italian model with mandatory vaccination for everyone aged 50 and over is being discussed increasingly. But how can it be that Scholz makes announcements and then hides behind the schedules of the Bundestag when he always talks about leadership? Hoffmann says she has nothing to add to her words.
“We don’t let ourselves be artificially drifted,” emphasized the SPD parliamentary group in the meantime. Scholz is someone who lets such debates and excitement roll off.
Instead, he tries to find workable solutions internally in the coalition, surprises and his own suggestions cannot be ruled out.
Kühnert says in the direction of the Scholz critics that he could not understand “this desire to fail”. But he also admits that when it comes into force in March, it is unlikely to work.
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The CDU says: No leadership, no course
His CDU counterpart Ziemiak, however, throws in a few kilometers away in the Adenauer House that it has been customary for decades in the Federal Republic for the government to submit a draft on such an important issue. He must regulate when, for whom and with what fines such an obligation should be enforced.
“What the federal government is doing right now is to say: we’re not doing anything. I think that is irresponsible. “That is not a leadership,” that is not a clear course. “It could not be that the MPs are now brainstorming. Announcing something and then ducking away, that unsettles people, says Ziemiak.
SPD General Kühnert is specific on one point. There shouldn’t be a vaccination register that records all vaccinated persons centrally. Instead, random checks should be carried out when mandatory vaccination is introduced. In Italy, where the compulsory vaccination has been set in motion within a few weeks, the comparison is carried out via the tax number of the tax authorities; this is noted accordingly in the case of vaccinations.
The new doubts about the compulsory vaccination
Supporters of compulsory vaccination fear that if there is a vote only in spring, when the current wave has broken, the pressure to act could be too low. Kühnert also leaves it open whether he will support mandatory vaccination.
It is uncertain whether the Ampel coalition would have its own majority at all. That is why Scholz had no choice but to make the decision a question of conscience.
Nourished by the doubts in the FDP, a difficult debate unfolded that is dangerous for Scholz. Their tenor: Compulsory vaccination is obsolete because the vaccines cannot prevent omicron infections. The fact that they demonstrably protect against severe courses is less discussed. In addition, vaccines that are more effective against Omikron will soon be available. Virologists like Christian Drosten never tire of emphasizing that only with a much higher vaccination rate new mutations – and the next autumn / winter – lose their horror.
