Germany: Upper House approves more freedoms for vaccinated persons

As from Sunday, the Corona restrictions for fully vaccinated and recovered people will be relaxed. After the Bundestag, the Bundesrat has also approved the new regulation. Here’s an overview of the new regulation.

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The Bundesrat, the upper house of the federal parliament, on Friday approved a new regulation of the Federal Government that contains relaxations of protective measures against Covid-19 for vaccinated persons and those who have recovered from a coronavirus infection. The Bundestag, the lower house, had passed the bill on Thursday.

The new regulation will enter into effect on Sunday (9 May), Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht (SPD) announced on Friday.

People are considered fully vaccinated from the 15th day after the second vaccination. Those whose infection did not reoccur after more than half a year are considered recovered.

What will vaccinated and recovered people soon be allowed to do again?

• Meetings: The restrictions on private meetings will no longer apply to vaccinated and recovered people. At meetings of non-vaccinated or non-recovered people, vaccinated and recovered people may join in any number.

• Curfew: Curfews no longer apply to the vaccinated and recovered.

• Sports: Vaccinated and recovered persons are again allowed to participate in group sports of any size.

• Equality with tested persons: If exemptions for tested persons are stipulated in the infection protection laws of the respective federal states, these exemptions also apply to vaccinated and recovered persons with immediate effect. For example, vaccinated and recovered persons no longer have to have a coronavirus negative test result to enter shops or other facilities.

• Quarantine: Vaccinated and recovered persons no longer have to go into quarantine if they come into contact with an infected person. This rule does not apply in the case of a coronavirus variant that the Robert Koch Institute classifies as “worrying” or in the case of entry from a virus variant area.

What rules must vaccinated and recovered people continue to adhere to?

• Mask requirement: Vaccinated and recovered persons must continue to wear a mouth-nose-protective mask where required.

• Social distancing and hygiene rules: Vaccinated and recovered persons must continue to comply with social distancing and hygiene rules.

How do I prove that I have been vaccinated or have fully recovered from an infection?

• The law passed stipulates that vaccinated persons must be able to prove their vaccination with a vaccination certificate in German, English, French, Italian or Spanish.

• Recovered persons must show proof of convalescence. This can be the negative PCR test result that confirmed recovery after infection.

According to the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases (RKI), 30.6% of the German population has received at least one vaccine. Some 8.6% of the population are fully vaccinated.

Femi Awoniyi