The Countries Where Covid-19 Vaccination Is Mandatory

Some European countries have recently barged ahead by introducing wide-ranging Covid-19 vaccine mandates, but such major vaccination obligations also exist in Latin America and Asia.

Austria's new law that mandates all adults to be vaccinated against the coronavirus went into effect last week amid controversy, while neighboring Germany is mulling a similar move. Aging societies Italy and Greece meanwhile opted for mandatory vaccines among at-risk age groups. These are defined as those over the age of 60 in Greece and those over the age of 50 in Italy.

As our map shows, the obligation to be vaccinated against Covid-19 also exists for all adults in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vatican City, which were the first countries to introduce these mandates. Indonesia and Micronesia followed later, as well as Ecuador, which mandates coronavirus vaccinations for everyone above the age of five. In Costa Rica, it is eligible minors for whom coronavirus vaccines are mandatory.

Elsewhere, obligatory vaccinations are in place for healthcare workers or certain other professions requiring a high level of human contact. Some countries also opt not to issue mandates but enact tight regulations surrounding unvaccinated individuals that amount to a de-fact vaccine mandate.