The corona pandemic has overshadowed the compulsory measles vaccination, which has been in force since March 2020, in schools, among other places. The obligation to provide proof applies not only to children, but also to large parts of the staff.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - According to the Ministry of Education, around half of the school staff in Thuringia is affected by the nationwide compulsory measles vaccination in schools and kindergartens, among other places. According to a spokeswoman, around 13,400 employees were under the age of 52 in the 2021/22 school year. Since March 2020, the obligation to provide evidence of measles vaccination protection or immunity after an illness applies not only to children and young people in community facilities, but also to employees in the facilities born after 1970. A transitional period applied for some until the end of July.
The Measles Protection Act came into force in March 2020. Since then, proof of vaccination or immunity first had to be presented when children were admitted to institutions and when new staff were hired. After the end of the transition period, this now also affects the staff who were already working there before March 2020 and children who were cared for in kindergartens and taught in schools before this date. According to the Ministry of Education, the vaccination obligation applies to two thirds of the educational staff in the kindergartens, that is more than 9700 people. The ministry did not provide information on the age structure of the other kindergarten employees.
The facilities must transmit the data of unvaccinated people to the responsible health authority. Children who are not vaccinated may not be cared for in kindergartens. Unvaccinated school children may not be excluded from classes because of compulsory schooling, but their parents face a fine of up to 2,500 euros. Employees without proof of vaccination or immunity are also threatened with being banned from entering or working.
According to the Ministry of Education, there have been no known conflicts in schools and kindergartens over compulsory measles vaccinations in Thuringia. The Thuringian Ministry of Health is not expecting any serious problems - at least for school children. In view of the high measles vaccination rate among schoolchildren, it can be assumed that unvaccinated children are rather isolated cases, said a ministry spokesman on request. For example, 93.2 percent of the children born in 2013/2014 who started school in Thuringia in 2019/2020 had complete measles protection from two vaccinations. According to the ministry, there have been no cases of measles in Thuringia in the past two and a half years.
