Scholz’s party wants vaccine mandate decision this quarter

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s biggest governing party says it aims for a final decision by the end of March on the introduction of a universal vaccine mandate against COVID-19. Parliament last month approved legislation that will require staff at hospitals and nursing homes to show that they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus by mid-March. Progress toward a more contentious universal vaccine mandate is proving slower. There are divisions within Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party government. And it isn’t yet clear how the mandate would be designed. Two senior lawmakers with Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats said Thursday that “we aim to conclude the legislative process in the first quarter of this year.”