Nationwide mandates

Leaders in a growing

Leaders in a growing number of countries worldwide have been
accused of infringing on their citizens’ rights by mandating
compulsory vaccination against Covid-19.

But such policies have been praised too, as a vital
measure to tackle vaccine hesitancy and boost public immunity
as the pandemic rages on. With infection rates rising across
Europe and many other regions, countries with higher vaccination
rates “have the best shot at a manageable winter”, said the
BBC^[1]’s health correspondent
James Gallagher. 

Austria, which has one of Europe’s lowest
vaccination rates, is “about to become a testing ground for
overcoming vaccine
skeptics^[2]”, said Bloomberg^[3]. In an effort to tackle
high cases rates and low vaccination levels, Chancellor Alexander
Schallenberg announced last week that from 1 February citizens
must be fully vaccinated^[4], with those who refuse
facing possible fines of up to €3,600 (£3,000). 

Thousands of people^[5] took to Vienna’s
streets in protest, and “several demonstrators wore yellow Stars of
David or carried placards that compared the mandate to the
Holocaust”, said Liam Hoare, Europe editor for Moment
magazine, in The Guardian^[6].

With experts also divided about whether Covid jabs should be
compulsory, “nations that continue to struggle with outbreaks and
stubbornly low vaccination rates will be watching Austria’s vaccine
mandate rollout closely, possibly as a roadmap of things to come”,
Hoare wrote. 

Neighbouring Germany had previously promised
not to introduce a mandate, but Angela Merkel has told her party
that the current coronavirus measures are “not sufficient”,
The
Independent^[7] reported last week. At
present, proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid is required to
enter large events, as well as sports and leisure
facilities. 

The outgoing health minister Jens Spahn has warned that Germans
“will have been vaccinated, recovered or died” by the end of
winter, and tourism commissioner Thomas Bareiss has said compulsory
vaccination will become “unavoidable” as case levels continue to
rise. 

And evidence from countries that have mandated vaccination for
some workers and venue access has proved effective in slowing
infection rates. In September, France introduced
compulsory vaccination certificates for healthcare workers, and a
‘health pass’ became essential in July for access to cafes and
restaurants, as well as planes and trains. Since then, “vaccination
rates have rocketed,” while “Covid-19 cases have plummeted”, said
Fortune^[8].

The mandate was a politically risky move, “especially since
Macron faces a tough re-election battle next April”, and some
measures “proved deeply controversial”, the magazine continued.
Suspending unvaccinated health workers was one such stipulation
that sparked weekly protests. But so far, “Macron’s gamble appears
to be paying off.”

Governments outside Europe are also facing political challenges
as they attempt to mandate vaccination. In the US,
Republicans successfully stalled the legislative approval of
a
government-issued mandate^[9]
that would make vaccination, or weekly testing, compulsory for
workers in companies with 100 or more employees from 4 January
2022. Joe Biden yesterday filed an emergency court motion for the
measure to be reinstated immediately, The Wall Street
Journal^[10] has
reported.  

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the
body that would implement the mandate, faced “many lawsuits
challenging the rules”, arguing that it had “engaged in unlawful
government overreach”. Proponents, however, had indicated that the
mandate, which would save more than 6,500 lives according to the
OSHA’s estimates, “doesn’t go far enough”, the newspaper
continued. 

It remains to be seen whether the mandates will become law, and
it could be months before the effectiveness of compulsory
vaccination can be assessed. For now, here are the countries that
have mandates in place.

Nationwide mandates

Indonesia mandated vaccination for all adults
in February, while Micronesia and
Turkmenistan followed suit in July.
Austria will be the first European country to make
vaccine passports compulsory from February 2022.

Specific workers

In many countries, ‘no jab, no job’ rules have “often been met
with fierce opposition and warnings over an exodus of workers”,
said The
Telegraph^[11]. Of those, the US “has
perhaps seen the most vocal pushback”. 

Saudi Arabia made double-jabbed status
mandatory for all state workers in May. Canada,
Costa Rica, Denmark,
Egypt, Fiji,
Hungary, Italy,
Latvia, Russia,
Tunisia, Ukraine and the
US have all made similar moves for certain
workers. “In Moscow, the mandate has sparked a black market in the
creation of fake QR codes”, the newspaper continued.

Health workers in Australia,
France, Greece, New
Zealand and the UK are similarly required
to show proof of vaccination. 

Kazakhstan has introduced compulsory
vaccination or weekly testing for working groups of more than 20
people, with a similar rule for in-office workers and public
transport employees in the Philippines applying
from 1 December.

Specific settings

In much of Europe, including Bulgaria,
Czech Republic, the Netherlands
and Romania, proof of double
vaccination is essential to enter indoor social venues such as
clubs, cafes and museums. This rule also applies in
Lebanon, Morocco and some regions
of Russia.

From 1 December, Kenya also requires double
vaccination for entrance to hotels, bars, national parks and
restaurants, as well as schools, transport services and some state
offices. The news was welcomed by some, but critics said that the
country’s low double-vaccination rate – just 8.8% of the population
– make it “unrealistic”, Reuters^[12] reported. 

This vaccination rate is higher than the average across African
nations, which is less than 5%. The low uptake is due to “global
inequities in vaccine supplies, not because Africans do not want to
be vaccinated”, according to the World Health
Organization.