Merkel says jabs in Germany will remain voluntary

Germany is not planning to follow France and other countries in introducing compulsory COVID-19 vaccinations for parts of the population, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday.

“We do not intend to go down this road,” Merkel said in Berlin after visiting the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) public health agency.

“We are at the beginning of the phase in which we are still promoting (vaccination), where we have more vaccines than we have people who want to be vaccinated,” she said.

After a slow start to its vaccination campaign earlier this year, Germany sped up its drive over the summer and had by Tuesday fully vaccinated 42.6 percent of adults, with 58.5 percent vaccinated at least once.