"Allow more freedom quickly"

Vaccinations against the coronavirus will soon begin in the Görlitz district as well. Erik Hahn, a professor in the Faculty of Business Administration and Engineering Management, gave an interview to the *Sächsische Zeitung* on the legal aspects surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine.

In the interview, he comments, among other things, on the likelihood of a potential mandatory vaccination policy. “Given that, according to current knowledge, the course of the disease depends—at least on average—heavily on age and any pre-existing conditions, I consider a mandatory vaccination policy to be impermissible under the current legal framework,” explains the expert in medical law. He considers mandatory vaccination for certain groups of people to protect third parties to be conceivable in principle. However, it is important to wait and see how the situation develops over the coming weeks to determine whether vaccinations of the over-80 age group will already lead to a decline in severe cases of the disease. “The willingness of these individuals to get vaccinated will also be of central importance in this regard,” Hahn notes.

Erik Hahn views special privileges for vaccinated individuals as a positive step toward easing restrictions on social life: “The decision to grant vaccinated individuals greater freedoms as quickly as possible would, in fact, indirectly help everyone else by boosting consumer spending.”