Germany in stormy waters ahead of vaccine mandates
Europe's biggest economy, Germany, is edging closer to imposing controversial mandatory vaccination.
And the move is making waves in a country where a significant section of society are resistant to getting a COVID-19 shot.
On Thursday (December 2) the government announced that an ethics committee would draft legislation and the Bundestag would debate and vote on the measure in February at the latest.
"I would call it rape. I think this is one step too far because we should not forget that there are reasonable people out there, too."
"I am against mandatory vaccinations. I think everyone should decide for themselves. People should be able to choose to either go into hiding or to get vaccinated."
The unvaccinated were also barred from access to all but the most essential businesses on Thursday, such as grocery stores, pharmacies and bakeries.
Outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel said that she felt "depressed" by the strong fourth wave of the virus, and now there is also the discovery of the Omicron strain to contend with.
Germany's vaccination rate hovers around the 60-70% mark - a lower average than its European neighbors.
Many worry about side effects, fears that experts say are overblown and are far outweighed by the risk of catching the virus.
Berlin psychologist, Sophie Reiske:
"When the people feel that there is no rhyme or reason to the rules then they feel like they are being taken advantage of, and if you add to that that people are experiencing many things at once. People are very dissatisfied with the government's handling of corona, both those pro-and anti- vaccines, that at least is a unifying factor, and really feel helpless with the situation."
In December 2020 almost a third of Germans said in a poll that they would not have a coronavirus vaccine.
Radical "anti-vaxxers" have regularly flouted rules to protest restrictive measures.
But they are a small percentage of a larger group of vaccine skeptics.
Virologists blame the renewed outbreak on resistance to vaccination, and have criticized politicians for acting too late to rein in contagion.
