EU President Ursula von der Leyen says it is time to consider mandatory vaccination

European Union President Ursula von der Leyen said the emergence of Omicron meant it was time to consider mandatory vaccinations in all EU member states.

The European Commission president told reporters in Brussels: “On the one hand we have the virus and the variants, on the other hand we have the vaccination and the boosters and I want the second side to win.

“Not everyone can be vaccinated,” she acknowledged, but said “the vast majority could.”

“So I think it’s understandable and appropriate to have this discussion now (on) how we can encourage and potentially think about mandatory vaccination within the European Union,” she added.

“It needs to be discussed. There needs to be a common approach, but I think it’s a discussion that needs to be had.”

The move comes as the scientist behind the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine urged the public not to “panic” over the emergence of the Omicron variant, stressing that vaccines are likely to continue to offer protection against the disease.

Dr Ugur Sahin, co-founder of BioNTech, said that while the new strain was likely to partially evade antibodies acquired through vaccination, the immune system had other lines of defence.

“Our message is: don’t panic, the plan remains the same: accelerate the administration of a third booster dose,” Dr. Sahin told the the wall street journal Tuesday.

Governments around the world are racing to speed up their booster vaccination campaigns in the face of the variant’s spread. Boris Johnson announced on Tuesday that all adults would be offered a third dose by the end of January.

Learn more

Avoid kissing under the mistletoe, advises minister, as expert urges ‘sensible’ Christmas

EU urges members to stop travelling to countries affected by new Covid variant

Most worrying Covid variant could already be in UK, expert says