Germany imposes compulsory jabs for medical and care staff

German hospital and care home staff will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus from March next year according to the terms of legislation passed by both houses of the German parliament on Friday, reported dpa.

The legislation put forward by the new centre-left coalition government received overwhelming support in the Bundestag, the lower house, with members from the opposition conservative parties largely backing the new law.

It went immediately to the upper house, the Bundesrat, where it was also passed.

The legislation stipulates that staff working in hospitals and care homes will have to be vaccinated or show that they have recovered from the virus. Showing a recent negative test for the virus will not be sufficient.

Pharmacists, dentists and vets are to be allowed to administer vaccinations, along with doctors and nurses.

In addition, the 16 states, which are primarily responsible for implementing health policy, are to be empowered to impose restrictions to counter the pandemic, including powers to shut down restaurants, entertainment venues and sports facilities.

The new coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) ruled out broadly imposed lockdowns during their talks to reach a coalition deal and allowed earlier emergency legislation to expire last month.

Addressing the Bundestag on Friday, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said combatting the pandemic was among the coalition's top priorities. Speaking to Der Spiegel news magazine, he said fines, but not prison sentences, would be imposed on those disregarding the new rules.

With vaccinations proceeding at the rate of more than 1 million a day, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's official disease control body, reported that 69.4 per cent of the population had been fully vaccinated.

While the overall figure has risen only slowly over recent weeks, many are seizing the opportunity for a third, booster, jab. Of the 1.1 million vaccinations administered on Thursday 953,000 were boosters, while just 77,000 were first jabs and a similar number second.

By early Friday, 21.3 per cent of the population had received a third jab, equivalent to 17.7 million people.

Resistance to vaccination is particularly strong in the eastern state of Saxony, where just 58.8 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated.

The seven-day incidence rate of new infections, the RKI's preferred indicator, came in at 413.7 per 100,000 of the population early on Friday, down from 422.3 on Thursday and 442.1 a week earlier. The figure stood at 232.1 a month ago.

Many German analysts believe the current figures are substantially understating the true picture, with regional hospitals and health departments struggling to keep pace.