Europe's mandatory vaccination programs advocated by health officials in the face of mounting disinformation
In a push to combat the growing threat of vaccine-preventable diseases, EU Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi has endorsed compulsory vaccination schemes. This move comes as vaccination coverage has stalled or even fallen in some parts of the world, amid soaring levels of misinformation and vaccine hesitancy.
Várhelyi believes that without compulsory vaccination, managing global public health policies would be impossible. He argues that Europe's approach to vaccines justifies the bloc's role as a potential global health leader, without sharing any more details on the bloc's global health plans.
Many European countries, including France, Italy, and Hungary, already require children of certain ages to be vaccinated against specific diseases to attend school. In addition, several European countries have mandatory vaccination requirements for children before school entry, but the specific states and vaccines vary. For instance, certain mandatory vaccines are enforced in countries like Germany and Austria, while other countries link immunization policies to school enrollment.
Last year, Europe experienced a nearly tenfold increase in recorded measles infections. In contrast, in 2024, on average, 91 percent of kids in Europe received their second dose of the measles vaccine. However, countries like Romania and Greece had coverage rates as low as 71 percent and 62 percent, respectively.
The World Health Organization recommends that childhood immunization rates need to reach at least 95 percent to eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases like polio and measles. In comparison, the U.S. also recorded 95 percent coverage that year.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., a panel is considering softening or eliminating recommendations for some routine childhood immunizations. This move has been met with criticism from public health experts. U.S. counterpart to EU Health Commissioner, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a long-time vaccine skeptic and has dropped Covid-19 shot recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women, and has cancelled $500 million of funding for mRNA vaccines.
The EU executive plans to take on a more active role in global health, specifically addressing health disinformation that threatens progress in global public health policies. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU executive would be eyeing a role as a "leader" in global health, aiming to combat the disinformation that "threatens global progress on everything from measles to polio."
However, it's a politically contentious time for vaccines globally, with leaders in the U.S. being accused of stoking fears about vaccine safety. A new vaccine advisory panel will meet in the U.S. on Thursday and Friday to decide whether to update the current immunization schedules.
In July, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health announced that the U.S. had seen more cases and deaths this year than in the past three decades. This alarming statistic underscores the importance of maintaining high vaccination rates and combating vaccine hesitancy worldwide.
As the global community navigates the challenges of managing public health policies in an increasingly polarized world, the role of compulsory vaccination as a tool for disease prevention and global health leadership remains a contentious but crucial topic of discussion.
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