Germany's lower house of parliament voted against a law requiring everyone over 60 to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Reuters reports.

About 76.6% of the German population have taken at least one dose - less than in other Western European countries such as France, Italy or Spain, where the figures are 81.4%, 84.4% and 86.9% respectively.

In an attempt to avoid a new wave of the virus in the fall, the authorities put forward a proposal that citizens aged 60 and over must be vaccinated from October 15th.

Of the 683 MPs who voted, 378 voted against the law and 296 in favor.

However, this defeat is a setback for Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who even called on his foreign minister, Annalena Burbock, to leave the NATO meeting in Brussels to return to vote.

Last week, Scholz was forced to abandon plans to make mandatory vaccinations for over-18s because he failed to win a parliamentary majority.

This fact reflects the complex political dynamics of the ruling coalition government, made up of Scholz's Social Democrats, Greens and Liberal Free Democrats, who disagree on many issues.