Germany mulls restrictions for unvaccinated as cases soar

If infections continue to rise, unvaccinated people might be forbidden from entering restaurants, cinemas, theatres or sports stadiums because "the residual risk is too high," he said.

Merkel has previously spoken out against making vaccination itself mandatory.

According to Braun, cases are increasing by 60-percent per week and are expected to continue rising.

"If the Delta variant were to continue to spread at this rate and we don't counter it with a very high vaccination-rate or change in behaviour, we would have an incidence of 850 [cases per 100,000 inhabitants] in just nine weeks," he said.

Braun argued that introducing further restrictions for unvaccinated people would be legal since "the state has the responsibility to protect the health of its citizens" - triggering a debate even within Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.

The CDU candidate to succeed Merkel as chancellor in September's national elections, Armin Laschet, has opposed such measures.

"I do not believe in compulsory vaccination, and I do not believe in indirectly putting pressure on people to get vaccinated," he told ZDF television.

"We have had a rule that you must be tested, vaccinated or recovered and I think that is a good principle," Laschet said.

For his part, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Rolf Mützenich, warned that politicians are not going "to change the vaccination behaviour of individuals with threats".

About 60 percent of Germany's 83 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 jab, while just 48 percent are fully-vaccinated.

All jabs approved in the EU - BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson&Johnson - appeared to be effective against the Delta variant when both doses are administrated in the case of two-shot jabs.

Other countries like Italy, France, and Greece are trying to increase vaccination rates by imposing vaccine passport schemes or mandatory vaccination for certain workers, such as health and care staff.

Weekend protests

Those moves have sparked protests over the weekend.

Thousands gathered on Saturday in several French cities to speak out against the new Covid-19 restrictions for unvaccinated people and mandatory vaccination - with far-right activists and members of the 'Yellow Vest' movement clashing with police in Paris.

Similar rallies took place outside the Greek parliament in Athens for the third time this month, while large crowds took the streets in Dublin to protest against the introduction of vaccines passports.

As part of a so-called "Worldwide Rally for Freedom" campaign, protest against vaccine passports, wearing masks, and further lockdowns were organised in major cities across the world, including Sydney, London or Rome.