BERLIN — With coronavirus cases surging and Germany having identified several instances of the new omicron variant, the government is using added measures to target the unvaccinated — and debating whether vaccinations should become mandatory.
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Under rules announced Thursday, gatherings are limited to “one household” plus two other people, if those among them include people who are unvaccinated or who have not recently recovered from covid-19. Children younger than 14 are exempt.
Culture and leisure facilities will also be accessible only to people who can prove full vaccination or recent recovery. The same rule will apply to nonessential retail. Supermarkets and drugstores are exempt. In places with higher case rates, private indoor gatherings will be limited to 50 vaccinated or recovered people, or 200 if the event is outdoors.
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The tightened rules came as Germany’s public health body, the Robert Koch Institute, said the country had confirmed four cases of the omicron variant. The four people in question were fully vaccinated and had recently returned from South Africa, and are showing only mild symptoms, the institute said in its weekly report. Another eight suspected cases are being investigated. Experts believe the total number of omicron cases in Germany is higher.
The new variant has heightened debate in Germany about vaccination, including whether it should be mandatory.
Olaf Scholz, the incoming chancellor, announced Thursday that he would submit a proposal for a vaccine mandate to parliament, but caretaker Health Minister Jens Spahn has pushed back, saying he would vote against any compulsory coronavirus vaccinations if a bill is put to the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament.
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Spahn said Friday that he had repeatedly given his word that it would not come to compulsory vaccines, but stressed that “vaccination is the only way out of the pandemic.” If Scholz’s proposed vaccine mandate were to pass, vaccinations could become mandatory by February.
Some polls suggest there is growing support in Germany for compulsory vaccination. According to the monthly Deutschlandtrend poll, 57 percent of the population now favors mandatory shots against the coronavirus, up from 46 percent in August.
More than 71 percent of Germans have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Under the rules announced Thursday, multiple shots would be needed to maintain vaccinated status. Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that a person’s fully vaccinated status would expire after nine months. “Booster vaccinations are then necessary,” she told reporters.
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Merkel is set to leave office next week after 16 years in power, turning over the chancellor role to Scholz, her former finance minister. Merkel said Germany’s struggle with the pandemic “depresses me,” as she prepares to turn over the reins.
On a single day last week, Germany recorded a record 79,051 new cases of the coronavirus. New cases remain high, with 73,209 cases reported Thursday.
Some health experts said the measures announced this week were not enough, given the spread of the new variant.
Klaus Reinhardt, president of the German Medical Association, told regional newspaper the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that there should be mandatory testing in addition to proof of vaccination or recent recovery in bars, restaurants and indoor events.
“We still don’t know enough about the new omicron variant. We cannot rule out that the vaccines may have a diminished effect,” Gernot Marx, head of Germany’s association for intensive care medicine DIVI, told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. “Because of this lack of knowledge, it’s imperative that we’re particularly careful.”