Dramatic tones yesterday from Angela Merkel about the criticality of the epidemiological situation in Germany, but also from the Minister of Health Jens Span, who even warned that the Germans will either be vaccinated or will recover or die by the end of the winter. Commentators in the German press are wondering why this warning now. THE Hanoverian General Newspaper points out that it is “cynical when the outgoing Minister of Health makes such statements. And it is mainly cynical because just 4 weeks ago he supported the view that Germany could get out of the national pandemic… “or the chancellor with the 16 local prime ministers to consider the loose measures against the coronavirus without the possibility of a lockdown. And it is very likely that they will reverse them and decide on the general vaccination obligation.”
The left-wing newspaper TAZ in Berlin even calls on Jens Spann to resign for this very reason. “By declaring that Germany can emerge from the national epidemiological situation, he has proved that he deserves the title of teacher of erroneous assessments. he should look for another job that has nothing to do with health policy. “
“Compulsory vaccination protects freedoms”
German commentators estimate that the road to mandatory vaccinations is now irreversible. There are many statements for and against the argument that under the German constitution such an obligation violates the guaranteed right to individual liberty. They respond to them with their article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the prime ministers of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg Zender and Kretzmann, the former from the Christian Social Party and the latter from the Greens. “The obligation to vaccinate does not infringe on individual freedoms, on the contrary, it is a precondition for us to regain our freedoms,” the two prime ministers said. The result of this balance (freedoms) calls for a general obligation to vaccinate, as we have not been able to do so by the mildest means. “It is not an expression of coercion but of a freedom that leads to what everyone should do. Out of respect for rational and economically sound principles. Our democratic processes are the guarantee.”
But the two prime ministers also answer the question of whether compulsory vaccination has a polarizing effect on a society. “No” they answer. “The social fabric is not threatened with disruption if the state takes matters into its own hands and imposes mandatory vaccinations. But it is threatened with disruption when “The state should democratically decide the conflict and remove it from society. That is why a possible compulsory vaccination would not burden us, but would relieve us.”
DW – Irini Anastassopoulou
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