Complaint about job restriction - Testimony required for healthcare vaccination: RKI leader summoned
The justification for enforcing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for healthcare workers will be examined at the Administrative Court of Osnabrück on Tuesday. Dr. Lars Schaade, head of the COVID-19 crisis team at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in 2022, has been called to testify. He'll be grilled about his interpretation of certain sections in the alleged RKI guidelines that dictate how the COVID-19 situation should be evaluated.
The litigation revolves around a woman who was a healthcare assistant at a hospital in Quakenbrück during 2022. She's taking legal action against the Osnabrück district, which barred her from working at the hospital from November 7, 2022, due to compliance with the prevailing Infection Protection Act. This ban was scheduled to expire December 31, 2022. She didn't furnish proof of vaccination, recovery from COVID-19, or a medical exemption. A verdict is anticipated on Tuesday.
In March 2022, the Federal Constitutional Court upheld the healthcare worker vaccination mandate as lawful. Nevertheless, the claimant alleges that it was already known back then that the COVID-19 vaccine wouldn't prevent infections. This is strengthened by the unveiled RKI protocols released that spring.
The independent online publication "Multipolar" disclosed partly censored RKI crisis team protocols from January 2020 to April 2021 in March 2024. Following speculation about external manipulation of the RKI risk assessment, the institute eventually released most of these protocols in their unedited form. The remaining protocol documents from the team meetings, which ended in July 2023, are set to be released as soon as possible, as per RKI.
The healthcare assistant who is at the center of this litigation is a woman. The district of Osnabrucke, where the court is located, barred several women, including the claimant, from working in healthcare due to vaccine mandate non-compliance during 2022.
