Münster (dpa / lnw) – The city of Gelsenkirchen has rightly forbidden a secretary who has not been vaccinated against the corona virus to enter her employer’s hospital. This was decided by the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in an urgent procedure and announced on Monday. In the previous instance, the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court had already confirmed the woman’s ban on working after the introduction of the facility-related vaccination requirement, after she was unable to present proof of vaccination. The decision of the Higher Administrative Court is not contestable (Ref.: 13 B 859/22).
As justification, the 13th Senate of the Higher Administrative Court referred to a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court of April 2022. The highest German court had described the obligation to provide evidence of Covid-19 immunity as constitutional. In the case of the secretary, it is irrelevant, according to the OVG, that the applicant is not part of the nursing staff or is not a doctor. The plaintiff did not assert that she could rule out contact with patients or medical staff.
In its decision, the Higher Administrative Court criticized the health authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia. The applicant complained of a violation of equality because other municipalities had not issued comparable bans on entry and activity. The court in Münster accuses the health authorities of “actually not applying” the Infection Protection Act. Not imposing any bans across the board is incompatible with the purpose of the regulation, according to the justification for the decision.
