EU States Use Passes, Mandates And Fines To Boost Vaccination Rates

European governments are ramping up the pressure on people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 by making life progressively harder for those who have not done so, but few are opting to make jabs compulsory – and many politicians in one country that plans to do so are now having doubts.

- Jon Henley Paris, Philip Oltermann Berlin

As the Omicron variant sweeps across much of the continent, causing record infection numbers in almost a dozen countries from Finland to Greece, boosting vaccination tallies has become a priority to ease pressure on overburdened health services.

This week Italy, where teachers and health workers must already be vaccinated, and all other employees must be jabbed or test negative to enter the workplace, has made vaccination compulsory for about 28 million people aged over 50. “We want to slow down the curve of contagion and encourage Italians who have not yet been vaccinated to do so,” said the prime minister, Mario Draghi. “These rules aim to keep hospitals functioning well and schools and business activities open.”

The new measures oblige people over 50 who do not work to get vaccinated, while from 15 February those who do have jobs will have to show a vaccine pass to enter the workplace, removing the option of taking a test.