Governments have been making COVID-19 shots mandatory for health workers and other high-risk groups, pushed by a sharp upturn in infections caused by the Delta variant and a slowdown in vaccinations, as well as the new Omicron variant.
A growing number of countries are also making shots compulsory for public servants and other workers.
Here are some countries’ vaccine mandates, listed according to categories of people affected:
Adults and/or children
- Austria: All over 14s from February 2022; holdouts can be fined up to 3,600 euros every 3 months
- Costa Rica: Only children over 5 years old
Adults
- Ecuador: Obligatory except for people who have a relevant medical condition or incompatibility
- Germany: Plans to make mandatory for all adults from February
- Indonesia: All adults, with fines or refusal of social assistance or government services for the unvaccinated
- Italy: Over 50s until June 15
- Micronesia: All adults
- Tajikistan: All over 18s
- Turkmenistan: All over 18s
Elderly
- Czech Republic: Over 60s from March
- Greece: Over 60s from Jan. 16; recurring 100 euros monthly fine for those who fail to comply
- Malaysia: Over 60s and all adult recipients of the Sinovac vaccine required to get a booster dose by Feb.
- Russia: Over 60s and chronically ill in St. Petersburg
Government employees, public and private sector workers
- Canada: All federally regulated workplaces from early 2022
- Costa Rica: All state workers
- Croatia: All public sector employees, citizens who need services in public institutions
- Czech Republic: Police officers, soldiers and some other professions from March
- Denmark: Workplaces allowed to require a digital “corona pass” for employees
- Egypt: Vaccination or weekly COVID-19 test required from public sector employees to work in government buildings
- Fiji: Public servants, employees at private firms
- France: Public officials or employees, including civil security pilots, flight personnel providing care for victims, soldiers permanently assigned to civil security missions, firefighters
- Ghana: Targeted groups including all public sector and health workers from Jan. 22
- Hungary: Employees at state institutions
- Italy: All workers, school staff, police, military
- Latvia: Required for lawmakers to be able to vote and to receive full pay; businesses allowed to fire unvaccinated workers
- Lebanon: All civil servants and workers in the education, tourism and public transport sectors from Jan. 10
- New Zealand: Workers of border, prison, police and defence force sectors, as well as education sector
- Oman: Public or private sector employees for entry to workplace
- Panama: Vaccination or weekly testing for all public officials
- Poland: teachers, security personnel and uniformed services from March 1, 2022
- Russia: Workers with public-facing roles in Moscow;
- Saudi Arabia: Public and private sector workers wishing to attend a workplace; people entering government, private, or educational establishments
- Tunisia: Officials, employees and visitors accessing public and private administrations
- Turkey: Some sectors including teachers and domestic travel employees
- Ukraine: Public sector employees including teachers, municipal employees
- United States: All federal workers, contractors (temporarily blocked from enforcing nationwide), private sector workers in companies with 100 or more employees (reinstated on Dec. 18), public-sector workers (contested in New York court)
Health workers
- Australia: High-risk aged-care workers, employees in quarantine hotels
- Britain: Care home staff in England, health workers in England by April 1
- Croatia: Health and social care workers
- Czech Republic: Hospitals and nursing homes employees from March 2022
- Finland: Plans to make vaccines mandatory for health and social care workers
- France: Healthcare and care home workers, home aids and urgent care technicians
- Germany: Workers of hospitals, doctor’s offices and nursing homes by mid-March
- Greece: Nursing home staff, healthcare workers
- Hungary: Healthcare workers
- Italy: Health workers
- Lebanon: Health sectors from Jan. 10, 2022
- New Zealand: Health and disability sector workers
- Poland: Healthcare workers from March 1, 2022
- Ukraine: State and municipal healthcare workers
Other workers
- Western Australia: Employees of mining, oil and gas exploration sectors
- China: Booster shot required in Beijing for key workers on construction sites, including cooks, security guards and cleaning personnel
- Philippines: In-office workers and employees in public transportation services
- Kazakhstan: Mandatory vaccinations or weekly testing for people working in groups of more than 20
Entry to public venues
- Austria: Public places including restaurants, hotels, theatres and ski lifts
- Bolivia: Vaccination pass or negative test required for entry into public and private venues, including airports, bus stations, banks, shopping centres, restaurants and supermarkets
- Britain: Vaccination or negative test for all over-18s at night clubs and other venues in Scotland; at nightclubs, some indoor and outdoor unseated venues and all venues with more than 10,000 people in England
- Bulgaria: “Health pass” for visitors of public venues such as cafes, hotels, concert halls, museums and swimming pools
- Czech Republic: Vaccination certificates or testing status required at restaurants and clubs
- Denmark: Health pass required for entry to indoor bars, restaurants and other public places
- Egypt: Vaccination mandatory for public university students to access campuses
- France: Vaccination pass mandatory for all over-16s to enter cinemas, bars and restaurants, and use long-distance public transport, from Jan. 15
- Germany: Vaccination required for all but the most essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies and bakeries
- Hong Kong: Vaccination required for entry to restaurants, gyms, cinemas, and libraries from Feb. 24
- Italy: Vaccination required for indoor seating at bars, restaurants, visiting museums, cinemas, clubs, attending sporting events; basic green health pass obligatory for all public transport
- Kenya: Vaccination requirement for access to banks, restaurants, and public spaces;
- Lebanon: Vaccine certificate or antibody tests required for entry to restaurants, cafes, pubs and beaches
- Lithuania: Vaccination certificate required for access to indoor and outdoor gatherings attended by more than 500 people, economic activities, contact services including beauty services and gyms for all over-12s
- Morocco: Vaccine required for access to all government buildings, spaces such as cafes, restaurants, cinemas, gyms, transportation
- Netherlands: Health pass mandatory to enter bars, restaurants, clubs or cultural events
- Romania: Health pass, negative COVID-19 test or proof of recovery mandatory for entry to most public venues including majority of non-essential ones
- Serbia: Health pass mandatory to visit indoor cafes, hotels and restaurants after 10 p.m.
- Singapore: Vaccination necessary to enter shopping malls; considers requiring a booster shot to qualify as fully vaccinated
- Switzerland: Proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test required to access bars, restaurants and fitness centres
- South Korea: Vaccine pass mandatory to access 14 designated public spaces, including hospitality and entertainment venues; requirement extended to over 12s from February
- Sweden: vaccine passes required for indoor events with more than 100 people; to be extended to smaller gatherings, such as in restaurants.
- Ukraine: restrictions for unvaccinated on access to restaurants, sports and other public events
—Compiled by Oben Mumcuoglu, Dagmarah Mackos and Elena Vardon; Editing by Kevin Liffey
