Compulsory Vaccination in the Birthplace of Democracy

Should national governments consider making vaccination against COVID-19 compulsory? The head of the EU thinks it's time.

"The European Union should discuss whether mandatory vaccinations are needed to help fight the ongoing spike in Covid-19 cases, as well as the new omicron variant, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday," reported Katharina Rosskopf for Bloomberg News on Dec. 1

“I think it is understandable and appropriate to lead this discussion now -- how we can encourage and potentially think about mandatory vaccination within the European Union,” she said during a news conference. “This needs discussion. This needs a common approach. But it is a discussion that I think has to be led.”

U.S. approach

In the U.S., the Biden administration's Covid plan targeted the nation's workforce for increasing vaccinations, making inoculation mandatory for federal workers, contractors with the federal government, and healthcare workers participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Large private employers were given the option to test-and-mask workers who choose not to be vaccinated.

The plan has been hampered by federal judges who have sided more often with opponents of mandatory vaccination, granting preliminary injunctions sought for all the aforementioned vaccination requirements except federal workers (see "scorecard" at the base of Sunday's post, "Biden's 'Path Out of the Pandemic' Imperiled by Multiple Court Decisions.")

European approach—more democratic, less authoritative

As posted last month, Austrian residents will be required to be inoculated by Feb. 1 according to legislation that is expected to pass the Austrian Parliament. Administrative fines will be levied on those who refuse to comply.

Greece, the birthplace of democracy, has followed, though taking a more targeted route. Hellenic Parliament members passed legislation on Dec. 1 that requires residents aged 60+ to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be fined, reported Kaki Bali for Deutsche Welle on Dec. 2 (source article).

In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said there were some 580,000 Greek citizens aged over 60 who were not yet vaccinated. He also pointed out that most of the COVID-19 patients in intensive care were in the same age group, as well as most of the people who had died of the illness.

He announced, therefore, that by mid-January, all Greek citizens in this age group who had not been vaccinated should either have received a first shot or at least be able to prove that they had an appointment for one. Those without a shot or the prospect of one would be fined €100 ($113) per month. The fine would be collected automatically and used to fund the public health system.

Mitsotakis said that it had been a tough but justified decision. "I felt a duty to stand by the most vulnerable, even if it might temporarily displease them."

The prime minister hopes that the introduction of punitive fines will convince more people to get the vaccine. Currently, 62% of the total population and 73% of people over 18 have received both shots, according to the vaccine tracker of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The vaccination level in the U.S. is just a few points lower: 59.8% of the total population and 71.4% of people over 18 have received both shots, according to the vaccine tracker of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Dec. 4.

High court sides with the government

"The Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court, ruled Friday that the mandatory vaccination against the coronavirus does not violate the Constitution," reported the newsroom of Kathimerini, a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Athens (per Wikipedia) on Dec. 3.

The ruling followed an appeal against the government decision by several professional groups...The court furthermore ruled that healthcare workers have a constitutional obligation to inoculate themselves against the virus as a display of social solidarity.

The vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, administered by the Ministry of Health, took effect on Sept. 1, 2021, resulting in massive demonstrations, reported the Associated Press.

“The overwhelming majority of health care workers have not only been vaccinated, but fought a battle for the vaccination of the public,” the ministry said. “The law is being implemented for the few unvaccinated who are endangering the lives of people who turn to the health care system.”

In the U.S., a federal district court judge in St. Louis on Nov. 30 placed President Biden's healthcare worker mandate on hold nationwide.

Will Greece expand its vaccine mandate?

"As Greece Thursday confirmed its first case of Covid-19 caused by the Omicron variant, the government said it did not rule out an extension of mandatory vaccinations to other groups apart from those over-60s if the need arises," reported the Kathimerin newsroom in a separate piece on Dec. 3.

More specifically, commenting on the statement by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen [see top of this post] regarding compulsory vaccination and whether Greece is considering it, government spokesperson Giannis Oikonomou said, “We are ready at any time to do what we need to do concerning the pandemic.”

“With our decision on compulsory vaccination, we are one of the first countries and there will be others,” he said at a press conference specifying the measures in the law mandating vaccination for all people over the age of 60. Mandatory moves, he said, are “the last resort for vaccination coverage.”

Related in Planetizen:

• Biden's 'Path Out of the Pandemic' Imperiled by Multiple Court Decisions, Dec. 5, 2021
• Austria to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccination, November 22, 2021
• Global COVID Death Toll Reaches Another Grim Milestone [Europe is epicenter], November 10, 2021