Europe is hitting the unvaccinated with fines, lockdowns and mandates. Could America be next?

 

The jury is still out in the U.S. on how to deal with Americans who are unwilling to get vaccinated, but European countries are increasingly choosing the stick over the carrot as governments across the continent turn to hardline methods from lockdowns to fines in order to coax the unvaccinated to take the jab.

The message: get vaccinated, or don’t participate in society.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said today that the European Union should discuss whether EU-wide mandatory vaccinations are needed to fight spikes in COVID-19 and the new Omicron variant. “This needs discussion. This needs a common approach. But it is a discussion that I think has to be led,” von der Leyen said during a news conference.

Von der Leyen is not alone in taking the tough approach. Here is a partial list of restrictions put in place to get people across Europe vaccinated:

• Greece is imposing of monthly fine of €100 ($114) on people over 60 who aren’t vaccinated, calling it a health fee.
• Austria has restricted the movement of unvaccinated people in two of the hardest-hit regions, with only those vaccinated allowed to leave lockdown when restrictions end in mid-December or face a fine of up €3,600 ($4,000).
• Germany is facing pressure to follow Austria’s example in the face of spiking cases, with its incoming chancellor Olaf Scholz throwing his support behind making COVID-19 vaccine compulsory, calling for a parliamentary vote on the plan.
• France has mandated health workers and other civil servants be fully vaccinated, or lose their jobs without pay—and has suspended 3,000 health workers for being unvaccinated. It also requires people to carry a kind of valid vaccine pass to get into most public places.
• Italy has made COVID-19 vaccinations a requirement for all healthcare workers and there is a rising debate over extending this to other groups. Italy was the first European country to mandate that workers present a "green pass," or proof of vaccination or a clean bill of health before entering a workplace. The unvaccinated must get tested every 48 hours to participate in just about every facet of public life, a personal expense that quickly builds up.
• The United Kingdom, no longer part of the EU, is taking a more relaxed approach, requiring all National Health Service workers to be jabbed by next spring.

Europe has often made COVID-19 moves before the U.S., and some analysts expect these measures to migrate across the Atlantic—against the wishes of Republicans and many business trade groups. The Biden Administration's current plan is to get U.S. companies with 100 workers or more to vaccinate staff or bring in regular testing, a proposal that's hung up in the courts.

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