Arguments over compulsory covid-19 vaccination are raging across Europe

EARLIER THIS month President Emmanuel Macron said he wished to “piss off” those who had chosen not to be vaccinated against covid-19. France’s 5m unjabbed people will soon be barred from restaurants, theatres and long-distance trains, among other things. Yet they might consider themselves lucky. Italy and Greece have passed laws making vaccination obligatory for all residents over 50 and 60 respectively. Austria has just done so for all adults, and Germany may follow suit.Most European countries have already excluded unvaccinated people from large swathes of public life, to . In many places jabs are a condition of employment in hospitals and care homes. But facing a stubborn wall of vaccine scepticism, some governments have gone one step further. “I would have preferred to go another way. But…we need to take this drastic step,” said Alexander Schallenberg, Austria’s then chancellor, announcing the plan in November. Austria and Germany have some of the lowest vaccination rates in western Europe.