Covid Vaccine Mandate in Germany, France and Austria 

Covid vaccine mandates for certain age groups existed too in Italy and Greece. This summary focuses on the laws for obligatory Covid vaccinations in France, Germany and Austria. It analyzes as well some associated political measures such as the french « Vaccination Pass ». Learn more about the legal background, the duration of the measures, and the concrete sanctions for citizens who declined the vaccination. You’ll discover too the impact of these political decisions on the overall national vaccination rate, and the importance of international law. This article uses exclusively official and verifiable sources: official media and official law information systems.

France : Covid Vaccine Mandate for medical care workers

France installed compulsory Covid inoculations for medical care workers and firefighters.

In a TV speech in november 2020 (minute 16 of the video) president Emmanuel Macron made the commitment not to install mandatory vaccination.

 « I want to be clear. I will not install compulsory vaccination. »  (Emmanuel Macron, november 2020)

A few months later, in a speech from 12th july 2021, president Macron announced (minute 6 of the video): 

« In a first step, the vaccination will become compulsory for the medical care and administrative staff of hospitals  (…)  » (Emmanuel Macron, july 2021)

The relevant legal norm for this decision was article 12 ff. of the « law n° 2021-1040 from 5 august 2021 concerning the management of the health crisis ».

15 000 persons that worked in medical facilities refused the inoculation. They got suspended by the french authorities – without salary, and with a difficult access to social welfare payments.  

Approximatively 5000 french firefighters got suspended too (140 professional firefighters and about 5000 voluntary firefighters).

The suspension of this skilled personnel remained active until may 2023, when the decree nr 2023-368 suspended the compulsory vaccination.

The french army was as well concerned by compulsory vaccination rules.  The norms that apply for soldiers are regularly updated in the « official bulletin of the miltary forces « (Bulletin Officiel des Armées).

France : Refusal of a generalized compulsory vaccination mandate and installation of a « Vaccination Pass »

During the summer of 2021, the so-called « Health Pass » entered into force. The presentation of a negative Covid-Test (not older than 72 hours, or of a vaccination proof, or of a recovery proof) was required to enter the following places : culture and sports facilities, conference centers, certain higher education institutions, trade fairs, museums, « libraries of category S », « religious places of category 5 », restaurants etc.

The relevant legal norm was the decree nr 2021-1059 from 7 august 2021.

 A proposal for a law for mandatory Covid vaccination for the whole french population was done in august 2021 by several deputees of the french Senate (one of the two chambers of the french parliament) around Patrick Kanner (Socialist Party). The draft targeted all french citizens starting at the age of 12 years. In october 2021 this law proposal was rejected.

In 2022, a so-called « Vaccination Pass » was deployed in France. All citizens aged 16 and older had to present a « full vaccination scheme » (or a recovery proof from a Covid infection) to enter and use the following places and facilities: bars and restaurants, cinemas, museums, theatres, sports grounds, ski lifts, trade fairs, interregional public transport means (for example : a train from Paris to Strasbourg) etc.

The relevant legal norm for the « Vaccination Pass » is the law nr 2022-46 from 22 january 2022 and the decree Nr 2022-51 from 24 january 2022.

The french « Vaccination Pass » entered into force in january 2022 and was ended on 14 march 2022, shortly before the first tour of the french presidential elections 2022 (on 10 april 2022).

Germany : A « Corona Prison » north of Hamburg

In the region of Schleswig-Holstein, a wing of the prison for juveniles in Moltsfelde was reserved for citizens who were accused of infringements of lockdown and quarantine rules. Various german newspapers reported about citizens who were brought in this « Corona Jailhouse ».

The legal norm for this kind of arrest was an « isolation » according to article 30 of the german « Law for protection against infections ».

Germany : Compulsory Vaccination against Sars Cov 2 for soldiers and health care workers

The first Germans that were concerned by compulsory Covid inoculations were members of the german army and medical care experts.

German soldiers were under the obligation to get inoculated against Covid, from november 2021 until may 2024. The legal norm to be considered is article 17 a of the german Soldier Law (Obligation to accept vaccinations that are specially determined).

The „Berliner Zeitung“ informs about the case of a german soldier who refused the Covid-19 vaccine and the payment of a financial fine for this decision. He got a 40 days prison sentence (imprisonment for failure to pay a fine).

Medical care personnel were obliged by article 20a of the german « Law for protection against infections » to present either a vaccination proof or a « proof of recovery from a Covid infection ».  

According to estimations of the newspaper RND in march 2022, about 6% of the medical care personnel in Germany were not inoculated against Covid.

The sanctions against non-vaccinated health care staff varied from one german region to another, according to media reports. Article 20a of the quoted law remained active until the 31st december 2022.

Germany : Initiative for a law for compulsory Covid Vaccination for citizens aged 60 and older

The german chancellor Olaf Scholz had not made an explicit commitment not to implement compulsory vaccinations for the general population. He just said that he did not » want » such a law. 

In the spring of 2022, the german government prepared a law for compulsory Covid inoculations for all citizens from the age of 60 years upwards.

The association « Krista » – composed of critical judges and prosecutors – wrote an open letter to the members of the german parliament, with the following serious legal statements :

„With the implementation of this compulsory vaccination the state does deliberately kill people! 5 (Dolus directus 2.Degree). (…) The last two years are full of infringements against our constitution, like in a stone pit. When doing an unbiased analysis, it is difficult to name the legal reality still by the term „free and democratic constitutional order“. (…)  The implementation of (…) compulsory vaccination with the new COVID-19-Substances – (…) –  is not compatible with the constitutional law (Grundgesetz) and the binding norms of international law. (…)  The vaccination does even cause fatalities.“ (Association of critical judges and prosecutors in Germany)

The vote in the german parliament took place on 7 april 2022.   

The proposal of a law for compulsory Covid Inoculations was finally rejected. The german Bundestag has 736 deputees of which 683 expressed their vote: 296 with yes, 378 with no, 9 with an abstention.

Austria : Lockdown for unvaccinated citizens and vaccinations in a brothel

During the 4 years of the ÖVP-Green-Government (2020 – 2024), there were in total 3 different ministers of health (from the green party): Rudolf Anschober, Wolfgang Mückstein, Johannes Rauch.

Austria had severe Covid lockdowns and even a Covid lockdown for unvaccinated citizens in late 2021 – although article 7 of the austrian constitution stipulates explicitely that „all citizens are equal before the law“. Various government measures of the Covid period were declared illegal by Austria’s Constitutional Court, as for example the „generalized interdiction to enter public spaces“.  

In order to prompt austrian citizens to get a Covid Vaccine, there were as well some very original marketing means by politicians and private companies:

In 2021, health minister Mueckstein (Green Party) gave a press conference to explain which demographic groups had the lowest inoculation rate: migrants from the Balkans (video min 25), people with simple education (video min 19) and farmers (video min 23, 35 -37).  

The austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen (former member of the Green Party) invited people to get an inoculation in his office in the historical Hofburg Palace in Vienna. In the promotion video he said:

„The marble hall (of the Hofburg Palace) is Austria’s most beautiful vaccination spot“. (Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen)

For those who preferred red plush over white marble, there was as well a creative solution: Physicians realized Covid vaccinations in a brothel (the „Fun Palast“ in Vienna); the reward for the inoculated was a 30 EUR discount voucher for the services of the ladies that work there.    

Austria’s law for compulsory Covid Vaccination for the entire population

In early 2022, Austria’s government was preparing its law for compulsory Covid inoculations – which concerned the whole population starting at the age of 18 years.

The first draft of the law contained even the possibility of prison sentences for unvaccinated citizens. The austrian newspaper „Der Standard“ informs, that unvaccinated citizens, who did not pay the financial fines for a vaccination refusal, should be put in prison for 4 weeks (imprisonment for failure to pay a fine).  

106 000 austrian citizens made a statement concerning this law proposal on the website of the national parliament. Numerous independent medical experts and independent legal experts expressed their views on the subject, and a large number of austrian citizens contacted the members of parliament to give them precious informations concerning medical aspects of the inoculation substances, on fundamental human rights etc.

The law was finally approved in the austrian Nationalrat. Most votes for this law came from the ÖVP, the Green Party and the Socialist Party. The FPÖ voted against it. 

The main elements of this law were as follows: 

It concerned all people living in Austria that were at minimum 18 years of age. Exceptions existed for pregnant women and people with medical contraindications. The law does not mention a precise number of inoculations. Article 4 stipulates that the minister for health defines the number and intervals of the inoculations. The financial punishment for citizens who declined the inoculations was up to 3600 EUR per year (article 10). A prison sentence for citizens who did not pay the financial fine (which was part of the first draft of the law) was excluded.

Among the austrian population, this new law triggered very different reactions:

Most people who considered the inoculation as beneficial for their health, said that they did not need a legal obligation to get their vaccine doses. Some thought, that it was a good idea to push people towards an injection by threatening them with a high financial fine or a high prison sentence. Those people who did not want to get inoculated remained in most of the cases with their decision. They made it clear too, to be ready to take up legal actions in front of the courts.

The law entered into force on 15 march 2022, but already before its entry into force the Official Gazette of Austria informed on 11 march 2022, that the law will be „temporarily suspended“. 

The government argued, that the „Omicron variant of Covid“ did finally not require the application of the law. The law remained suspended, and already on 7 july 2022, the austrian parliament abolished it completely.

WHO Vaccination data : What was the impact of Austria’s law for compulsory Covid vaccination on the overall vaccination rate ?

In Austria, this particular law did not lead to a significantly higher number of inoculated people. According to the WHO dashboard the overall vaccination rate in Austria is even below that of many other european countries.

Here are the WHO statistics concerning people with « at least one dose of a Covid 19 vaccine » in some selected countries, updated in august 2024 :

United Arab Emirates = 100% / Cuba = 95%/ Portugal = 95% /  Peru = 93 %/ Vietnam = 93%/ Cambodia = 92%/ China = 90%/

Australia = 88% / Malta = 88% / Brazil = 87% / Canada = 87% / Spain = 87%/ Italy = 85%  / France = 84%  / Japan = 83%/ Thailand = 83%/  Israel = 82%/ USA = 82%/

United Kingdom = 79%/ Germany = 78%  / Austria = 78%  / Mexico = 75%/ Tunisia = 75%/ Greece = 74% / India = 74% / Sweden = 73%/ Switzerland = 70%/

Morocco = 68%/ Hungary = 65% / Monaco = 64%/ Poland = 61%/ Russia = 61%/

Croatia = 57% / Slovakia = 52% / Serbia = 49% / Romania = 42 % / South Africa = 41% /

Ukraine = 37% / Bulgaria = 31% / Kenya = 27% / Bosnia = 17% / Senegal = 16% / Haiti = 5 % /

Gibraltar + Greenland + Liechtenstein : no data available on the WHO website ;

The relevance of international law and of independent experts

EU Law applies to all EU member countries, such as France, Germany and Austria. The EU Regulation (EU) 2021/953 from 14 june 2021 is a binding legal act for all EU countries. 

Article 36 of this regulation stipulates :

“It is necessary to prevent direct or indirect discrimination against persons who are not vaccinated (…) Therefore, possession of a vaccination certificate, or the possession of a vaccination certificate indicating a COVID-19 vaccine, should not be a pre-condition for the exercise of the right to free movement or for the use of cross-border passenger transport services such as airlines, trains, coaches or ferries or any other means of transport. (…) this Regulation cannot be interpreted as establishing a right or obligation to be vaccinated.” (EU Regulation 2021/953)

The EU Regulation (EU) 2021/953 from 14 june 2021 was valid until june 2023.

There is as well an important resolution of the Council of Europe (which is independent from the European Union):

Resolution 2361 from january 2021, whose article 7.3 stipulates :    

« ensure that citizens are informed that the vaccination is not mandatory and that no one is under political, social or other pressure to be vaccinated if they do not wish to do so; ensure that no one is discriminated against for not having been vaccinated, due to possible health risks or not wanting to be vaccinated; (…) distribute transparent information on the safety and possible side effects of vaccines (…) » (Council of Europe, Resolution 2361 from january 2021)

Further international laws, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are to be considered too in this context. Follow this blog to stay informed on this topic.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

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