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 Around 75% of the population have received at least one dose of a
vaccine - less than in western European peers such as France, Italy
or Spain, where the equivalent figures are 80%, 83% and 86% - and
the vaccination campaign is stuttering.
The proposals being debated include requiring all adult residents to
be vaccinated against COVID-19, or only those above 50, or merely
requiring all those who have not been vaccinated to receive
counselling.
Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, Germany was more successful
than many of its peers in limiting infections through case tracking,
strict lockdowns and quarantines.
But public discontent has been growing, with regular protests by
those opposed to ongoing restrictions that exclude the unvaccinated
from many indoor activities.
The highly contagious Omicron variant has sent cases soaring in
recent weeks. The 166 deaths recorded on Wednesday took Germany's
cumulative COVID-19 toll to 117,126.
German Hospital Federation chairman Gerald Gass said the number of
COVID-19 patients in normal hospital wards had increased
significantly. In North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous
state, the number rose by 37% in a week.
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 "This development will affect all federal states
shortly," Gass told Reuters, adding that he was
in favour of compulsory vaccination while the
end of the pandemic was not in sight.
Protests were expected in front of the Reichstag parliament building
before and during the debate, with around 1,600 police officers due
to be deployed to the area, the broadcaster RBB reported, citing
Berlin police.
Opponents of compulsory vaccination say it violates the second
article of the constitution, which guarantees citizens control over
their own bodies.
In an Allensbach survey published on Wednesday by the Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, the share of those who could imagine
themselves taking part in protests against anti-coronavirus measures
had doubled to 12% in the space of a year.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa;Additional reporting by Andreas
RinkeEditing by Kevin Liffey)
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