The parliamentary leader of the Greens in Germany, which is set to be part of a new government, expressed support for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations as the number of infections jumped again, Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday.

Katrin Goering-Eckardt said continual lockdowns and restrictions on social contact were a bigger imposition than demanding vaccination.

"This is a proposal not for right now," she was quoted as telling radio station Deutschlandfunk.

Initially, it would be about mandatory vaccinations for example in care facilities to protect particularly sensitive groups, Goering-Eckardt said, adding, introducing a compulsory vaccination would not mean that this would be enforced by police.

According to figures from the Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI) of infectious diseases on Wednesday, Germany registered 66,884 new COVID-19 infections and 335 deaths, bringing the total number of deaths close to 100,000.

Currently, about 68% of Germany's population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, below the average in western Europe.

Meanwhile, Germany's Ethics Council indicated it could reconsider its rejection of compulsory vaccination, Reuters added.