Germany imposes restrictions on unvaccinated and
could make jabs obligatory from February
Vaccination could become mandatory in Germany from
February, the outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, has announced.
Germany
will also impose sweeping nationwide restrictions on social contact for
unvaccinated people, in what local media is describing as a “lockdown for the
unvaccinated”.
Unvaccinated
people will be barred from non-essential shops and events, unless they have
recently recovered from Covid. “Culture and leisure nationwide will be open
only to those who have been vaccinated or recovered,” Merkel said.
Discos and
clubs will have to shut if case numbers reach above a certain threshold, the
chancellor also announced.
The Covid
situationwas “very serious”, Merkel warned, with cases at very high levels and
vaccine take-up still lower in Germany than in many other European countries.
“We have
understood that the situation is very serious and that we want to take further
measures in addition to those already taken,” Merkel told a news conference.
“To do
this, the fourth wave must be broken and this has not yet been achieved,” she
said, adding that a nationwide vaccination mandate could take effect from
February 2022 after it is debated in the Bundestag and after guidance from
Germany’s Ethics Council.
Austria
became the first western country to make vaccines mandatory in recent days,
while Greece said it would make jabs obligatory for over-60s.
Merkel and
her successor, Olaf Scholz, met German regional leaders today to agree a path
forward for the country.
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