Overview
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. alleged that more than 1,000 German physicians and thousands of patients face prosecution for issuing or receiving mask and vaccine exemptions.
- Health Minister Nina Warken rejected the accusation as baseless and factually wrong.
- Reporting by Süddeutsche Zeitung and a ZDFheute fact-check found isolated prosecutions tied to forged vaccine certificates or false mask exemptions rather than punishment for dissent.
- German law targets untrue health certificates and related fraud under updated StGB provisions, with the BGH in 2025 upholding convictions of doctors who issued mass bogus attestations without examinations.
- Die Tageszeitung framed Kennedy’s attack as a polarizing move and urged a more forceful governmental response to curb misinformation.