EU Commissioner Says Decision On Vaccination Mandate Up To Each Member State

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2021) The European Union's strategy on COVID-19 gives member states the freedom of deciding whether to make vaccination mandatory, Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Tuesday.

Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the bloc needs to consider mandatory vaccination as a possible response to the spread of the Omicron variant.

"We have made it very clear from the beginning of our EU vaccine strategy that vaccination in general, and notably decisions on mandatory vaccinations, is the decision of member states," Kyriakides told a press conference after the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council.

Austria and Greece have already made vaccination compulsory, and some other EU nations, including Germany and Poland, are considering following the lead.