German parliament rejects mandatory vaccination for over 60s
Berlin, Apr 7 (EFE).- A proposal to introduce mandatory vaccination against Covid-19 for people over the age of 60 was rejected by the German parliament on Thursday.
The controversial bill, which was presented by members of the coalition government made up of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, and was supported by chancellor Olaf Scholz and health minister Karl Lauterbach, among others, was rejected with 296 votes in favor, 378 against and nine abstentions.
“With mandatory vaccination from the age of 60 we can avoid 90 % of all the deaths that we could avoid with mandatory vaccination from the age of 18. Let’s take advantage of this opportunity,” Lauterbach told deputies during the debate ahead of the vote.
Following the vote, Lauterbach took to his Twitter account to lament the result, warning that “the fight against corona in Autumn becomes much more difficult.”
Meanwhile, the cumulative incidence continues to fall in Germany and stands at 1,251.3 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past seven days, compared to 1,322.2 on Wednesday, and 1,625.1 a week ago.
The vaccination campaign has virtually stalled, with only 51,000 doses administered on Wednesday and a daily average of 36,000.
As of Wednesday, 76.6% of the population (some 63.7 million people) had been vaccinated, 76.0% with the full regimen, while 58.9% (49.0 million) had received a booster dose. EFE
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