(ANSA-AFP) - BERLIN, DEC 10 - Germany's lower house of parliament passed a draft law Friday requiring healthcare workers and soldiers to get inoculated against Covid-19, a first step toward possible mandatory jabs for all adults. A large majority of Bundestag MPs voted for the measure requiring staff at hospitals, doctors' offices and care homes to be fully vaccinated by mid-March 2022. The Bundesrat or upper house is expected to pass the bill later Friday following similar moves by France, Italy, Britain and Greece. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who took office this week with the new government under Olaf Scholz, asked deputies from across the political spectrum to support the measure to protect vulnerable groups.

"The pandemic is a mission for us all -- this isn't a moment for party politics," he told the chamber before the vote.

(ANSA-AFP).