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Around ten months after the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Europe, Germany and the rest of the European Union countries want to start the first vaccinations against the virus shortly before the turn of the year. Vaccination centers have been created, processes have been tested.
Everything is waiting for the vaccine from the pharmaceutical companies Biontech and Pfizer to be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the EU Commission, which should take place early next week.
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) presented the vaccination order in Berlin on Friday, which, among other things, regulates who is offered a vaccine and when. “We cannot make this offer to everyone at the same time at the beginning of the vaccination. because there is very little vaccine, “said Spahn. Initially, it assumes that 11 to 13 million doses of vaccines will be available in the first trimester.
Who will get vaccinated first?
In principle, anyone who resides in Germany, who stays here for a long time or regularly, as well as people who work in nursing care in certain health centers in Germany, can be vaccinated, even if they do not live here. Since there won’t be enough vaccines for everyone, especially at the beginning, according to Spahn’s plan, the people who need to get vaccinated first are divided into three groups.
It starts with people over 80, the very old, those who need care, and those who care for them. Therefore, the first category of “top priority” also includes medical personnel in intensive care units, emergency rooms, ambulance services, and ambulatory care personnel.
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Therefore, the second category includes people over 70, people with dementia, people with trisomy 21, and transplant patients, as well as residents of homes for the homeless or asylum seekers and close contacts of people in need of care. .
The third category includes people over 60 years of age, the chronically ill, people “in a particularly relevant position in state institutions”, as well as educators, teachers, and retail employees.
Why is the prioritization of vaccination not regulated by law?
Spahn has introduced an ordinance on the distribution of the vaccine, that is, a regulation of the executive branch. However, essential decisions affecting fundamental rights must be based on a law, that is, a decision of the legislator. Consequently, the FDP has submitted a draft and the Greens also believe that the Bundestag should vote on it.
They get support from the Scientific Service of Parliament: “The prevailing opinion that prioritizing certain population groups for access to vaccines requires a formal law that regulates at least the essential criteria for the distribution of a scarce vaccine must be approved”, says in an Evaluation.
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The reason for this is the central importance of the vaccine to life and health and the monopoly of the state to decide on distribution. However, the government can also rely on a law in its course of action, the recently enacted “Third Civil Protection Law,” which provides for the enactment of ordinances for the distribution of vaccines.
The advantage of such regulation is that it can be changed or adapted on short notice, depending on the course of the pandemic. Predictable courts will have to decide whether the legal grounds differ sufficiently in the importance of prioritization.
What does the economy demand in terms of vaccination?
In the United States, large companies are aggressively promoting that their employees be vaccinated as quickly as possible. For example, Amazon has asked the US government in a letter to give preference to particularly important employees, such as employees in warehouses and data centers for vaccination; they couldn’t work from home. The National Federation of Retailers of the United States had already submitted a similar request.
In Germany, too, federal and state vaccination plans are not ambitious enough for many companies. An alliance of companies has been created in Bremen which offers the authorities the opportunity to significantly increase the number of vaccinations. “According to the health authorities, they should be vaccinated there from 1000 to 1500 people per day,” said Detlef Pauls, president of the Dehoga Bremen Hotel and Restaurant Association, the Tagesspiegel. “With 500,000 inhabitants, that takes too long.”
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The alliance wants to increase the number to 15,000 vaccines per day. To this end, employees currently working part-time jobs should help establish and organize more vaccination centers. “In Berlin there is not yet an alliance formed as in Bremen,” announced the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry on request. Berlin companies have been asked to support the vaccination centers.
The business is also open for company doctors to perform vaccinations or provide logistical assistance to the federal government.
Can companies help with anything?
In the health sector, however, there are doubts that help from the economy is needed. As for the medical infrastructure in Germany, there is no bottleneck, but at most with the vaccine itself, according to experts. There are only problems as long as only the Biontech vaccine is available, because it must be stored at minus 80 degrees Celsius.
The industry has doubts that private initiatives can create the necessary infrastructure. As soon as the Moderna vaccine is available, which does not need to be stored as cold, the vaccine can also be injected in doctors’ offices. According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, vaccination could be carried out across the country in five months.
Can hotels, restaurants or event organizers give preference to vaccinated clients?
The Federal Ministry of Justice has a clear position on this. “In general, it is true that private providers, such as owners of private catering, accommodation and events companies, are free to refuse the conclusion of contracts or access to their properties,” said a spokesman.
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There is competition between private providers so that rejected customers can switch to another provider. In theory, this freedom is only limited by the anti-discrimination regulations of the General Equal Treatment Law (AGG). The distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated is not prohibited there.
How is the situation of airlines and transport companies?
Australian national airline Quantas has already made it clear: as soon as a vaccine is available, the airline’s terms and conditions will be adjusted. So at least passengers on intercontinental connections would have to get vaccinated.
With a view to the conclusion of transport contracts, the Federal Ministry of Justice indicates that there are some legal obligations to contract. This is the name given to the obligation of a company to have to enter into a contract with a customer.
Such rules exist in the General Law of Railways and in the Air Transport Law, among others. However, this does not mean that it should be inadmissible to reject travelers without a vaccination certificate. In some cases, companies may invoke exceptional provisions. National entry regulations will also play an important role.
How is data protection guaranteed?
Whether a person has been vaccinated or not is one of the health data especially protected by the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD). Basically, data subjects must give their consent “voluntarily” to the processing (and collection) of data and it must be closely related to the performance of the contract.
Consequently, it must be reduced to the fact that the processing of data is all the more permissible the more the risk of infection arises or is favored by the performance of the contract. Consequently, airlines or bus travel providers will likely collect that health data, while online delivery services like Amazon will not.
