‘Understandable’ to consider mandatory Covid vaccines, says Ursula von der Leyen

The chief of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union ought to “think about mandatory vaccination” against Covid-19.

She argued that it was “understandable and appropriate to lead this discussion now,” given that a third of the trade bloc and political union’s 450 million citizens remain unvaccinated.

Austria has announced compulsory Covid-19 vaccinations from February 1 next year and Germany is considering similar plans.

Vaccines are set to be made compulsory for all over-60s in Greece., while Austria is set to make them mandatory for all adults from February 2022.

She clarified that member states would maintain control over their own vaccine policies.