Latest news updates: Germany's Scholz favours mandatory vaccines amid rise in Covid cases - Financial Times

Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor-designate, said he is in favour of mandatory vaccinations for all, increasing the likelihood the country will follow Austria in creating a legal requirement for its entire population to get the jab.

A decision on whether to move ahead with the mandate could come as early as Thursday, at a meeting between Scholz and the leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states to discuss new measures to contain the coronavirus crisis.

Scholz’s change of heart — he had long argued that there was no need for mandatory vaccinations — reflects the gravity of the fourth wave currently sweeping through Germany, with new infections reaching levels not seen at any previous stage of the pandemic.

The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s main public health authority, reported 45,753 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, and an incidence of 452.2 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days.

Germany has struggled with stubbornly low levels of vaccination. Only 68.5 per cent have received two shots — a much lower percentage than in countries such as Spain and Portugal. Many of the people now in intensive care wards with serious cases of Covid-19 are unvaccinated.

“In these circumstances . . . it’s a morally justifiable position to say that in order to protect all of us, this is a case where ideally everyone should get vaccinated,” he told Bild TV. Scholz said he favoured a free vote in the Bundestag on the issue.

Scholz expressed his support for mandatory vaccinations during a phone conference with outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states on Tuesday afternoon.

According to German media reports, he said the mandate should come into force at the start of February. Scholz called for 30m first, second and booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine to be administered in Germany by Christmas. He also called for chemists, dentists and vets to be drafted into the vaccination drive.

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