European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU should start discussing mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, as the world steels itself for the threat of the newly-discovered Omicron coronaviruses variant.
Two or three years ago, I wouldn't have thought to look at what we are seeing today, that we have a horrible Pandemic, we have the life-saving vaccines, but they are not being used adequately everywhere. Von der Leyen said at the news conference that this is an enormous health cost.
Roughly 150 million people in the EU have not been vaccined yet.
Von der Leyen said that it's understandable to consider vaccine mandates among the EU's 27 member nations.
She asked if we could think about mandatory vaccinations within the European Union. This needs to be discussed. This needs a common approach, but it needs to be led.
Von der Leyen said that the EU faces a "race against time" with the Omicron variant and that vaccines are critical to the fight against the "highly contagious" strain.
She said that scientists told them that it would take two to three weeks for them to know what was going on.
This is a short period of time. Von der Leyen said that it was an eternity in a Pandemic time.
According to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 vaccines will likely protect against severe cases of the Omicron variant.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 11 EU countries have reported 59 cases of the Omicron variant. The US reported its first case of the variant, carried by a single traveler who arrived in California on Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Each EU member state has the power to impose vaccine mandates. The UK, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Poland are some of the worst-hit countries.
Austria was the first country in the EU and the first Western democracy to make vaccinations mandatory for all adults. Greece said it would impose monthly fines of $113 on senior citizens who refuse to get vaccinations.
By February, Germany's incoming chancellor said he would consider introducing a vaccine mandate.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the country wouldn't ever look at compulsory vaccinations for the public, though it has required jabs for healthcare workers.
