The German government has set out new plans for wide-ranging freedoms for people vaccinated against Covid-19, and those who have recovered from it.
Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), one of the leading figures involved in the drafting of the law, has argued that since people who have been fully vaccinated have been shown to pose minimal risk to those around them, restricting their rights is unconstitutional. “The constitution only allows restrictions on our basic rights if there is a special justification for this. The protection of life and health in the pandemic is such a justification. But if it is now proven that there is no longer any particular danger from fully vaccinated and recovered people, then we must remove the restrictions on their fundamental rights. This is not about special rights or privileges, but about a central requirement of our constitutional state,” says Justice Minister Lambrecht. In a draft law, the German Ministry of Justice has laid out detailed proposals for the relaxing of Covid-19 rules for people who are either fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19. She sent the proposal to the other federal ministries on Thursday.
People who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are exempt from many restrictions in Germany from Sunday after the government passed new legislation to restore some freedoms:
Curfews and limits on social contacts no longer apply to those fully vaccinated or recovered from a Covid infection under the new rules.
They will also no longer have to present a negative test result to access certain services.
If returning to Germany from abroad, they will not be required to quarantine unless arriving from a country deemed high risk due to virus variants.
However, they will still be required to adhere to social distancing and hygiene measures such as wearing masks in shops and on public transport.
