BERLIN, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The German Ethics Council recommended on Wednesday an extension of the general COVID-19 vaccination requirement for adults after the country had already made vaccination mandatory for healthcare workers.
Mandatory vaccination for all citizens could only be justified if the measure would "mitigate or prevent serious negative consequences of possible future pandemic waves," the Council said in its report commissioned by the federal and state governments.
"Mandatory vaccination cannot be a panacea against the pandemic but can only be considered part of a comprehensive, evidence-based, nuanced and forward-looking overall strategy to tackle the pandemic," the report said.
The Council members were divided on how far mandatory vaccination should go. While seven members said the measure should be limited to adults who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, 13 members supported a general vaccination requirement, according to the report.
Although COVID-19 case numbers in Germany have been declining since the fourth wave peak around two weeks ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases has already warned that the country would be hit by a fifth wave powered by the Omicron variant.
After his meeting with the country's minister presidents, Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated on Tuesday that vaccination remains a "very important factor" in the fight against the new coronavirus variant.
The country's vaccination campaign has recently picked up steam again with 1.1 million doses administered on Tuesday alone, bringing the immunization coverage rate to 70.5 percent, according to official figures released by the RKI and the Ministry of Health (BMG).
The Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's Parliament, is scheduled to vote on a general vaccination requirement for adults at the beginning of next year. Enditem
