Germany stricter for the non-vaccinated, vaccination requirement by February

Germany stricter for the non-vaccinated, vaccination requirement by February
© Belga

Germany is imposing far-reaching measures for non-vaccinated people and wants to implement a vaccination obligation for all German residents from February 2022.

"The fourth wave must be broken quickly," said Chancellor Angela Merkel while announcing the rules on Thursday, report local media. The government hopes that the number of infections will fall quickly.

Those who have not been vaccinated are largely banned from public life in Germany, as many leisure activities are only open to those who are vaccinated or have recently recovered from the virus. And even then, a negative test result is required in some places.

This rule applies to the hospitality industry, theatres, cinemas and non-essential shops, such as clothing stores. Supermarkets, however, will remain open for everyone.

Discos and nightclubs are allowed to stay open, but must close once more than 350 infections per 100,000 inhabitants of the region concerned have been counted in the past week.

The vaccination requirement still has to be voted on in the German Parliament. For this specific vote, the German MPS will not have to follow their party line, but will be allowed to vote as they see fit.

As the vaccination requirement is due to take effect in February, people still have enough time to get their vaccinations against the coronavirus before then, said Merkel.

"We had all hoped that making the vaccines optional would be enough. But vaccinating is the only way out of the pandemic and that is why we have to take this decision," she added.

The number of Covid-19 infected in Germany has been rising rapidly in recent weeks, just like in neighbouring countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium.


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