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Vaccine mandates in Europe 'should be last resort' - WHO

07 December 2021 19:35 (UTC +04:00)

Here's some more detail on the World Health Organization (WHO) warning we just mentioned, APA reports citing BBC.

Europe regional director Hans Kluge has cautioned against making Covid vaccines mandatory. He said this should be "an absolute last resort and only applicable when all other feasible options to improve vaccination uptake have been exhausted".

Austria has already announced plans to introduce mandatory vaccinations for all by February, and some other European nations might follow the suit.

Europe is currently seeing a spike in infections, and the WHO has recently warned there could be as many as 500,000 more Covid-related deaths across the continent by 1 March 2022.

The WHO's Europe region comprises 53 countries and territories, including Israel and several Asian nations.

The UN's public health agency also voiced concern about rising Omicron cases - but stressed that the fight should still be focused on the currently dominant Delta variant.

"The problem now is Delta and however we succeed against Delta today is a win over Omicron tomorrow, before it eventually surges," Kluge said.