Too often it is about the freedom of the unvaccinated

With freedom comes responsibility, and so there are good reasons that unvaccinated people will soon no longer be able to pass their quarantine risk financially on to the general public. Anyone who decides independently not to be vaccinated against Corona cannot spend two weeks in quarantine with full salary compensation. So far, so logical. And yet the decision is unsatisfactory. It is little more than a big “see good” to the address of the unvaccinated.

The health ministers have chosen the easy route and made the prospects of autumn and winter unpleasant for those who have not been vaccinated where there was no serious conflict to be resolved. In doing so, you run the risk that contact persons simply conceal the fact that they would have to go into quarantine. And they shy away from turning the big screws instead.

Overall, society is still far too concerned about the freedom of people who have voluntarily not been vaccinated and far too little about the right of everyone else to be protected from the virus.

For example, there is no compulsory vaccination for employees: inside hospitals, nursing homes, schools and daycare centers. That would be necessary and, given the special responsibility that these people have as a job, also proportionate. At least one 3G rule would be needed in all other workplaces. Why are mandatory tests considered unreasonable – but vaccinated people have to expose themselves to the risks that arise for them when they meet unvaccinated people at work? Here politicians set the priorities completely wrong.

And what about everyday life, which is said to have been made so wonderfully pandemic-proof with 2G and 3G rules? Every rule is only worth as much as the political and social willingness to enforce it.

This is all too often lacking, whether in buses and trains, where many masks dangle from the wrist, or in restaurants and at cultural events, where 3G certificates are checked briefly or not at all.

What is needed instead is a personal, direct approach to all those who have not yet been vaccinated. Many people have moderately severe reservations that can be cleared up in a personal conversation, but are not opposed to vaccination: internally in the true sense of the word.

And creative solutions are needed that make everyday life easier for those with a history of illness and those who are cautious. Why not a 1G tag in the supermarket? One day a week on which only vaccinated people have access, so that people at risk can take care of themselves with a significantly reduced risk: That could be done – if only politicians wanted to.