The World Health Organization (WHO) urges caution over mandatory COVID-19 vaccination measures.
Mandatory vaccination or imposing a lock-down on people unvaccinated against Covid-19 raises human rights issues and countries should consider those measure “extremely carefully,” stated senior WHO official Mike Ryan.
Austria imposed a lock-down on people unvaccinated against the coronavirus on Monday. Europe has again become the epicentre of the pandemic, prompting some countries to consider re-introducing restrictions in the run-up to Christmas and stirring debate over whether vaccines alone are enough to tame COVID-19.
“This raises real issues around civil liberties… around human rights and it’s something that governments should consider extremely carefully”, Ryan, the head of WHO’s emergencies programme, told a social media event. Ryan also called on governments to implement those measures only as a last resort and for the shortest possible period of time.
“Mandatory vaccination is not the best means to achieve the highest vaccine uptake,” he added.