Germany rejects bill mandating over 60s vaccinations

German lawmakers rejected a bill requiring all people 60 and over in the country to be vaccinated against coronavirus on Thursday. The parliament's vice-president announced 296 votes for it and 378 against it.

Chancellor and his health minister had originally called for a vaccine mandate to apply to all adults in Germany. Some government lawmakers and most of the opposition balked at the idea.

The final form of the bill which included only all adults over 60 was a compromise which the government was hoping would receive a parliamentary majority vote.

Germany has managed the pandemic well compared to some of its European neighbors, with fewer deaths per capital than Italy, France, Britain or Sweden.

According to official figures, the confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany declined in recent weeks from a peak of about 300,000 daily to just over 200,000 in the past 24 hours.