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Saturday 5 December 2020
Regulation of government-only plans
Experts consider the vaccination law necessary
Vaccines against the corona virus should start soon. But who is first in line: doctors, nurses, the elderly? The federal government is planning a regulation in this regard. But experts advise regulating this in a law. So the Bundestag would have to agree.
The federal government wants to regulate vaccination against the coronavirus by regulation. According to an elaboration of the Scientific Services of the Bundestag, this is not the correct approach. The document states: “The prevailing view should be accepted according to which the prioritization of 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.”
Finally, the Federal Constitutional Court held that, in particular, the relevance of a measure for fundamental rights was decisive for it to be regulated by a formal law. The possibility of being vaccinated against the cause of the Covid-19 disease is of enormous relevance for the entire population, since everyone is affected equally by the risk of contagion and the consequent restrictions in daily life. The decision on which population groups to initially be preferred for distribution thus shows “a high level of overall relevance to fundamental rights”, according to the draft requested by the vice president of the FDP parliamentary group, Stephan Thomae.
Thomae warned that the Bundestag should not “again be demoted to a mere spectator.” In a democracy, the parliament has to decide on the essential questions. “With the vaccine allocation we are distributing life chances in the truest sense of the word,” Thomae said. Therefore, it is unacceptable that the government, and especially the Minister of Justice, Christine Lambrecht, is walking away from the debate in the Bundestag.
Data is still missing
After a corona vaccine has been approved, the first population groups to be vaccinated in Germany are those with a significantly higher risk of serious or fatal disease. Because the number of cans will not immediately be sufficient for the entire population due to production bottlenecks. The German Ethics Council, the Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences and the Standing Commission on Immunization of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) issued recommendations on behalf of the Federal Government in early November on who should be immunized immediately.
They must be older people, especially in nursing homes, in addition to people with previous illnesses and employed in hospitals and nursing homes. Likewise, people who occupy key positions in society and for public order should receive preferential vaccination, for example, employees of health and safety authorities, police, firefighters, teachers and educators. For example, people staying in very small homes for the homeless or asylum seekers should also be included. No distinction should be made between those with private and legal insurance. People without insurance should also be entitled to vaccinations.
However, precise statements on prioritization have not yet been made – that is, not all preferred groups have been precisely identified, he said. Because data was still missing. Recommendations must be specific by the end of the year at the latest. The draft of the Federal Ministry of Health for an “Ordinance on the right to vaccination against the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2” is currently being voted on in the government.
