The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has supported the Czech Republic on compulsory pre-school vaccinations in a case that predates the pandemic.
Families whose children were refused entry to pre-schools since they had not been vaccinated against childhood diseases appealed to the court.
In its judgment, however, the court found that while the country’s policy interfered with the right to personal life, it was justified on public health grounds.
The judges backed the Czech Republic 16 to 1.
“The… measures can be regarded as being’necessary in a democratic society’,” the court stated, adding:”The objective needs to be that every child is protected against serious diseases, through vaccination or by virtue of herd immunity”
Australian law demands that parents vaccinate their children against different diseases unless it isn’t possible for health reasons. But the jabs cannot be forcibly given and unvaccinated children can’t be excluded upon reaching primary school age.
France and Italy also have rules on mandatory vaccinations following measles outbreaks lately.
