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Names marked with an * asterisk have been changed to protect identities.
Berlin, Germany – Liz Meier *, now 56, was a young mother when she gave her two-year-old son Matthias * a triple vaccine against mumps, measles and rubella.
But it was done mandatory last year for German school-age children, they did not react well. Matthias was left with decades of severe disabilities that continue to shape the lives of her and her family.
“I trusted the vaccine, but then my son became very ill and almost died. He has been living with a physical disability ever since, and my fate has been decided, ”Meier told Al Jazeera from his home in Frankfurt, central Germany.
Meier is not immune to COVID, he says he is committed to it.
If Germany establishes one vaccine order next year, as he was discussing a move, he would consider leaving the country.
“I did a lot of research on vaccines after what happened, and given that knowledge and my history, how can I trust these vaccines at COVID? I know a lot of people who have already left Germany. but if so, I would consider my options. ‘
Meanwhile, the writer and translator says he has limited his social life as a half-retired writer.
“I just needed a free swim test before, so I did that every time I went. Then the rules were changed to a PCR test, which cost me about $ 300 [$340] a week. It is clear that they want to exclude us through these measures.
“We can sit outside in certain places, but it always feels like you don’t have permission to exist the way vaccinated people do.”
November, Austria announced that everyone living in the country should be vaccinated from February next year.
Those who do not comply will be fined up to 3,600 euros ($ 4,100) every three months.
With almost 70 percent of the population vaccinated, Austria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe. Owner refusals have been blocked and access to all non-essential public spaces, such as cafes, gyms and libraries, is now banned.
Similar rules apply in Germany, where new Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he supports the proposed vaccine order.
Official figures show that about 70 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated and almost 30 per cent have received a booster vaccine.
Those who remain unvaccinated say their voices, concerns, and experiences are unheard of. The latest measures and proposed mandates, they added, are having a significant impact on their emotional, physical and mental well-being.
Keysha *, a 39-year-old Londoner who lives in Berlin, said his family stopped immunizing him when he was younger. As a person with a mixed heritage of disability, he feels uneasy about the current climate.
“It’s been hard to see people laughing and enjoying themselves in cafes when I don’t let them in,” Keysha said. “People are enjoying it. There is something wrong with the whole situation.
“It simply came to our notice then. And it has caused a great deal of controversy in my family, in our lives, and in our relationships. I’ve experienced moments of tears, and at the same time I feel like it’s something other than the usual exclusion we have to deal with. “
Keysha, who has lived in Berlin for more than 10 years, works in the creative industry and issues of diversity, said the pandemic has exacerbated the feeling of going upstairs.
He has not ruled out returning to the UK.
“I feel less comfortable, more nervous and excluded from being here. There is only one main discourse at the moment, ”he said.
Nat A, the 35-year-old head of the Vienna railway, said he did not know what he would do if the mandate came into force.
“The only thing I don’t want to do is get vaccinated to regain my freedom,” he said.
“It simply came to our notice then. I would get vaccinated if I felt safe, but at the moment I don’t want to get vaccinated because of my gut feeling that vaccines are not tested enough. Maybe my opinion will change in the future, but who knows. ‘
While scientists almost unanimously advocate that COVID vaccines are the best way to protect people from the virus, which has killed more than five million people worldwide – including 113,000 victims in Germany and more than 13,000 in Austria – has been shared by civil liberties organizations. growing concerns about how some governments in the pandemic have restricted democratic freedoms.
Peter Klim, an associate professor at the Medical University of Vienna, told Al Jazeera: “Vaccines are the most essential tool we have to control the pandemic, and the situation we are developing with Omicron is not changing at all, but it emphasizes that again.
“However, although vaccines are the most important tool we have to control the pandemic, it is unlikely that vaccines alone will be enough in the long term and we should manage them with multiple layers of SARS-CoV-2 protection, such as tests, masks, antiviral drugs in the long term.
“If we are to implement vaccination orders now, this must be made clear so as not to encourage unrealistic expectations of a pandemic to emerge from the population.”
Returning to Berlin, Keysha remains hesitant about the vaccine and compares it to dark passages in history.
“With German history, and colonial history in general, we know what happens when you move in the direction of the governing bodies.
“My hope is that the history books show that we went through a strange time and that we intended to bring in a law to include people, but then we saw the sense and it flipped.”
For Meier, in Frankfurt, his confidence in officials continues to decline.
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