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(In update)
Germany will even tighten restrictions on those who have not taken the Covid-19 vaccine with a package of measures that the German health minister summarizes as “practically a prison for the unvaccinated“. In addition, the country will make vaccinations compulsory from February if parliament approves the measure, Angela Merkel said Thursday afternoon.
For those who are not vaccinated, stricter restrictions will be introduced, namely, a ban on entry to non-essential shops, restaurants and theaters (they can only enter vaccinated and recovered). The restrictions do not apply to basic services such as supermarkets or pharmacies. In addition, the clubs will close when the number of infections exceeds a certain threshold, writes Guardian… Merkel says the situation is “very serious” at a time when the country has more than 70,000 new cases.
One of the most drastic measures is compulsory vaccination, which has not yet been approved by parliament (Bundestag), but if given the green light, it will take effect in February. Olaf Scholz, successor to Angela Merkel, believes this measure will pass. By the way, just look at the coalition of forces: Scholz will lead a coalition government that will include the Social Democrats of the SPD, the FDP liberals and the Greens, who together can get the proposal approved. The number of football matches and other events will also be limited.
Bloomberg advanced this Thursday morning that the still incumbent German Chancellor Angela Merkel is meeting with the governors of 16 regional states and her successor to come to an agreement on the new restrictions. According to a draft agreement prepared by Merkel’s office and quoted by Bloomberg, the proposed measures include tightening restrictions on the unvaccinated. In addition, the same document indicated the closure of clubs in some places, depending on the number of infections.
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Outgoing Health Minister Jens Spahn summed up this Thursday ahead of the meeting that the new measures mean “virtually imprisonment for the unvaccinated.” “More than 12 million unvaccinated adults pose challenges to the health care system,” he criticizes. Tighter restrictions on the unvaccinated have already been proposed next Vice-Chancellor of Germany Robert Habek…
The article was corrected at 15:00 with the information that the compulsory vaccination has not yet been approved by parliament (Bundestag).
