Germany shuts unvaccinated out of much of public life

Germany on Thursday announced tough new restrictions to exclude unvaccinated people from much of public life, seeking to break a soaring fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic and blunt the worrisome new omicron variant.

The new rules, which stopped short of enforcing a complete lockdown on the unvaccinated, followed an agreement hammered out between Chancellor Angela Merkel, her successor, Olaf Scholz, and state governors.

Under the new rules, those wishing to go to bars and restaurants, or shop anywhere but in stores carrying basic necessities — such as pharmacies or grocery stores — have to present proof of vaccination or documentation of recovery from a recent coronavirus infection. Some of those restrictions have already been in effect in some states; the agreement sets a uniform nationwide standard.

With the new rules, and a promise by Scholz this week that he would push a law making vaccinations mandatory, Germany is following the path of Austria, which recently mandated that all adults be inoculated by February. It comes as both countries contend with strident anti-vaccination sentiment in their populations that have kept vaccination rates low compared with other western European countries.

“You can see from the decisions that we have understood that the situation is very serious,” Merkel said at a news conference after a teleconference with state governors.

The announcement, which followed two meetings between federal and state governments in three days, came after the incoming government was criticized as not taking the COVID-19 crisis seriously enough. Although Merkel is still chancellor, Scholz was active at the meetings and vocal at the news conference afterward, underlining that the new rules and the establishment of a vaccine task force were supported by both the incoming and outgoing administrations.

“I am glad that, in this difficult situation, we are working shoulder to shoulder, that party politics is taking a back seat and the health of the citizens is the focus of the common endeavor,” said Scholz, who is expected to be sworn in next week.