Austria has become the first country in Europe to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for its entire population, triggering protests and a renewed debate about how far governments should go to clamp down on citizens who remain hesitant or outright skeptical about immunisation. Austria, which has one of Europe’s lowest vaccination rates, announced last week that from February 1, 2022, citizens who refuse to be fully vaccinated will face possible fines of up to €3,600 ($4047). Other countries may follow suit, particularly in wake of the emergence of Omicron, a new coronavirus strain that has been flagged as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The global health body on Sunday warned that a high number of mutations make Omicron potentially more transmissible and evasive to vaccine or COVID-19 infection-generated immunity.

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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that authorities had begun looking into whether to mandate Covid-19 vaccinations alongside booster shots for workers and for entry to some public spaces. The country was the first to report cases of Omicron. Another African nation, Kenya, introduced restrictions on the unvaccinated last week.

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Germany’s health minister has warned that by winter’s end, “just about everyone in Germany will probably be either vaccinated, recovered or dead.” Since November 24, workers are to required to provide proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test under a new law. Olaf Scholz, Germany’s incoming chancellor, has said that mandatory vaccinations would be considered by the three-party coalition because “vaccination is the way out of this pandemic.”

Several German lawmakers have called for introducing vaccine mandates with one writing an op-ed about how such a mandate would stop “13 million adults bringing an industrial nation like Germany to the brink of desperation.”

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Greece, which has already introduced restrictions on the unvaccinated, plans to make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for all citizens over the age of 60. France introduced compulsory vaccination certificates for healthcare workers, and a ‘health pass’ in July for access to cafes and restaurants, as well as planes and trains.

Last February, Indonesia made Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory for its citizens, followed by Micronesia and Turkmenistan in July. Saudi Arabia made double vaccination mandatory for all state and private workers in May. India, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Russia, Tunisia, Ukraine have all made similar moves for certain workers. In the United States, President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for health workers has been blocked by a judge in 10 states that had filed a lawsuit against the government.