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German foreign minister calls for privileges for vaccinated

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
German foreign minister calls for privileges for vaccinated
Heiko Maas. Photo: DPA

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) has become the first German government minister to call for people with corona vaccinations to have special rights to eat at restaurants or go to the cinema.

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"Vaccinated people should be allowed to exercise their basic rights again," Maas told Bild am Sonntag newspaper over the weekend. 

"It has not yet been conclusively clarified to what extent vaccinated people can infect others,” he said. “What is clear, however, is that a vaccinated person will no longer take a respirator away from anyone else. This removes at least one central reason for restricting basic rights."

Maas said it was important to consider the needs of shuttered restaurants, cinemas, theatres and museums. 

"They have a right to reopen their businesses at some point, if there is a possibility to do so,” he said. “And if more and more people are vaccinated, there will be a chance. If the only people in the restaurant or cinema are vaccinated they can no longer endanger one other."

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The German government has so far rejected the idea of restoring certain freedoms for vaccinated people, pointing out that it is still unclear whether they are infectious or not.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) has warned against giving privileges to the vaccinated, saying that it would lead to a dangerous split in society. 

Maas, who used to be justice minister, disagreed: "Yes, this will lead to inequalities for a transitional period. But as long as there is a sound reason for it, it is constitutionally justifiable."

Only around one million people in Germany have been vaccinated so far, which corresponds to slightly over one percent of the population. Most of the people who have so far been vaccinated are very old people or in need of care, as well as medical staff and caregivers.

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Anonymous 2021/01/19 06:47
@Adrian those are not facts. Neither has yet to be determined. Regardless, the point of restrictions is to keep hospitals from overflowing, not necessarily to stop the spread of the virus.
Anonymous 2021/01/19 06:46
@Adrian those are not facts. Neither has yet to be determined. Regardless, the point of restrictions is to keep hospitals from overflowing, not necessarily to stop the spread of the virus.
Anonymous 2021/01/18 11:02
This policy would be unethical to implement until everyone has had the opportunity to be vaccinated
Anonymous 2021/01/18 05:01
Why? The vaccine doesn't prevent you from catching covid-19 & it doesn't stop you from giving ot to another person. So why would anything change.for an individual who recieves a vaccination.
Anonymous 2021/01/17 18:37
Agreed
Anonymous 2021/01/17 14:05
Agreed
Anonymous 2021/01/17 13:19
Much better for government ministers to shut up and hold their opionion on this subject until a substantial segment of (at the evry least) the vulnerable population has been vaccinated correctly, efficiently and willingly. This kind of pronunciation is sleepwalking into divisive and sensitive issues by someone who should know better. Usually Heiko Maas is better at diplomacy than this, perhaps he has over-stepped his importance in Government...

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