PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st November, 2021) Slovakia is considering introducing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for certain groups of the population, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on Saturday.
"We are now discussing the issue of mandatory vaccination for certain categories of the population with both doctors and lawyers. It is very important that experts in constitutional law determine whether our constitution allows this," Heger said on air of RTVS public broadcaster.
Mandatory vaccination will be most likely introduced for those in the 65+ age group, but the government also considers including the 55+ and 50+ categories, he noted. At the same time, there will be no division by professions since the government's priority is to ensure the safety of the country's elderly, he added.
If mandatory vaccination cannot be introduced for specific categories, then the government will again raise the question of mandatory vaccination for the entire population as was done in Austria, according to Heger.
On Friday, Slovakia reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases with 9,171 patients, more than 70% of whom were not vaccinated. So far, the country has fully vaccinated 2.43 million people out of its 5 million population.
