Germany military to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory

Germany’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday the country’s military will make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for troops as the country debates whether or not to enact a similar requirement for the general population amid surging coronavirus infections. 

The ministry said that officials and soldiers’ representatives had agreed to add the coronavirus vaccine to the list of inoculations soldiers are required to get, The Associated Press reported. However, this new requirement will still have to be added to the military regulations.

The AP noted that as of this week, there were 1,215 active COVID-19 cases in Germany’s military and its civilian staff.

In the past week, Germany has seen about a 50 percent increase in COVID-19 infections. Around 68 percent of Germany’s population is fully vaccinated.

On Monday, German Health Minister Jens Spahn told vaccine-hesitant Germans that they will either have to get vaccinated or become infected with COVID-19.

“By the end of this winter pretty much everyone in Germany … will have been vaccinated, recovered or died,” Spahn told reporters Monday, according to the wire service.

This new measure from Germany’s military comes just one day after the U.S. issued a travel warning for both Germany and Denmark due to rising COVID-19 infections.

The State Department issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” designation for Germany and said, “Do not travel to Germany due to COVID-19.”