The southern German state of Bavaria will not enforce compulsory COVID-19 vaccination for nursing staff in institutions such as hospitals and care homes from mid-March as originally planned, the state’s premier, Markus Söder, announced on Monday (Feb. 7).
This comes as Bavaria plans to loosen more COVID-19 measures. The state government says the health care system is no longer in danger of being overwhelmed, despite a high infection rate.
Although Söder said he was in favor of a universal COVID-19 vaccine mandate in Germany, he is now skeptical about compulsory vaccination for those working in the health care sector.
“The vaccine mandate for [health care] insitutions that was to come from March 15 is no longer an effective means to accompany, curb or stop the current omicron wave,” he admitted.
Söder said that people might leave their health care jobs, leading to increased strain and an aggravated situation in the sector.
“It only leads to problems; it is unfortunately no solution,” he said.