This depends on the fact that health professions have a "special responsibility", as they are "in close and intensive contact with groups of people at high risk for infection and serious or fatal disease progression", the law states.

Persons who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are exempt from the regulation, presenting an appropriate medical certificate.

To strengthen the vaccination campaign, pharmacists, dentists and veterinarians are to be temporarily authorised to carry out vaccinations against COVID-19 on their own responsibility in people aged 12 and over. Model training concepts are to be developed by the Federal Chamber of Pharmacists, the Federal Chamber of Dentists and the Federal Chamber of Veterinarians by 31 December 2021, each in cooperation with the Federal Chamber of Physicians.

Federal states can impose tougher regional restrictions in the event of very high infection.

According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s indicators, reported in the last edition of “Health at a glance 2021” - that provides the latest comparable data and trends on different aspects of the performance of health systems in OECD countries – Germany on November 2021 showed a “strong health system capacity enabled a robust initial pandemic response, but progress in vaccination rates has slowed”.

The Confederation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, BDA) has welcomed the introduction of this partial vaccination obligation, considering that this solution ensures the functionality of basic medical care and thus legislator fulfils its constitutionally derived duty to protect life and health.

From the BDA's point of view, it is necessary to do everything possible to prevent a further complete or even partial lockdown of the economy.

In many European countries legislators are facing with new and more stringent restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19. European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, recently called for an EU discussion on the topic.

With this decision, Germany follows other European countries, such as France (as we reported in our previous article), Italy, Greece, Hungary and the United Kingdom, in introducing laws to mandate vaccination for healthcare professionals. A new law under discussion would introduce also in the Netherlands a more widespread obligation for employees to show a ‘Corona Access Pass’ to work on-site. In Latvia, employers can suspend and even dismiss on-site employees considered at risk of COVID-19 exposure if they are not vaccinated, and from 15 December 2021 the vaccination obligation is be extended to all on-site employees.

From 1 February 2022, in Austria vaccination will be mandatory. It is the first country in Europe introduce a similar requirement, while, in the worldwide, Indonesia made Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory for its citizens from February 2021.