BERLIN (LifeSiteNews) — German state and federal health ministers have unanimously agreed that unvaccinated people forced to undergo post-international travel or contact-tracing quarantines should no longer receive any compensation from the state. In addition, COVID tests will no longer be free.
The measures are intended to put additional pressure on the unvaccinated to receive the COVID jabs.
Even before meeting on Wednesday to discuss the various COVID rules that will apply to the whole of Germany, the health ministers of the various German states had already come to an agreement on this particular regulation, and decided that unvaccinated people should no longer receive compensation if they are required to self-isolate for a period of time, following contact with a positive COVID case or after traveling abroad.
The chairman of the Bavarian health ministry, Klaus Holetschek (CSU), told the “Rheinische Post” today: “The law, which applies nationwide, states quite clearly: Anyone who deliberately does not get vaccinated, even though they have no medical obstacles preventing them from doing so and could have avoided a quarantine by getting vaccinated, is not entitled to compensation for loss of earnings in the event of a quarantine.”
The new regulation, which was already in place in several states, including Baden-Württemberg, will be implemented nationwide as of November 1 at the latest. An exception applies in the case of people who are unable to receive the COVID-19 vaccine due to medical reasons. Openly homosexual German Health Minister Jens Spahn explained that the date was chosen to give enough time for unvaccinated people who decide to get the vaccine to do so. In addition, as of October 11, the antigen tests required for unvaccinated people to get access to restaurants or events will no longer be free, except for pregnant women and children aged 12 to 17 who will still be able to get one free test a week until December 31.
For a long time during the COVID crisis, German citizens who were asked by the health authorities to undergo a government-imposed quarantine were compensated by the state and received 100% of their salary for the given period of time. On September 15, Baden-Württemberg became the first state to suspend compensation for unvaccinated people having experienced loss of earnings because of a quarantine. The justification for the measure was that, by mid-September, everyone in Germany had had the opportunity to receive the jabs. After that, a number of other states expressed their support for the measure.
So far, the new rule only applies to healthy unvaccinated people required to self-isolate after having traveled abroad or having come in contact with a positive case of COVID-19. Compensation will still be awarded to unvaccinated people if they become sick with COVID-19 as explained by a spokesperson of the German health ministry. “We’re talking about wage compensation for contact cases … not about sick pay,” she stressed, explaining that people who are actually ill still have a right to be compensated. The allowance paid in that case is less than the compensation for contact or travel quarantines.
The decision received strong criticism from trade unions and the opposition. SDP health expert Karl Lauterbach, who is in favor of strong restrictions related to COVID, tweeted, “Of course, you can try to put pressure on the unvaccinated like that. But it also means that no one will want to register themselves as contact cases or that contact cases will be reported under fake names.”
The chairman of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, also criticized the decision and stated that it “opened the door for social majorities to decide on individual claims for basic care.”
Spahn defended the measure. “This is not about pressure by the way, but about fairness towards the vaccinated as well,” he said, adding that he didn’t see “why others should constantly have to pay for people who refuse to receive the vaccines, even though they are able to do so.”
The 41-year-old health minister also expressed the view that there should be financial consequences attached to the decision of not getting vaccinated. “With this decision comes the responsibility to bear the financial consequences,” he said.
Reiner Hoffman, chairman of the German Federation of Trade Unions, denounced an attempt by the German government to push “compulsory vaccination through the back door.” Hoffman also considered these types of measures a violation of medical privacy, given that they might force employees to disclose private medical information to their employer as reason to why they are not able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.