Which Countries Have Mandatory Childhood Vaccination Policies?

With the widespread rollout of COVID-19 vaccines globally, some countries have started to consider mandatory vaccination, although no country has yet to make vaccines mandatory for its population. While COVID-19 has resurfaced the debate on vaccination policies, it has been an important topic for many other diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vaccines save two to three million lives each year (excluding COVID). The development of vaccines against vaccine-preventable childhood diseases has been a key driver in the decline of child mortality.

Despite it being such an important topic, it is surprising that information about which countries have mandatory vaccine policy is lacking, and it is childhood vaccines under a country’s national immunization schedules that are most commonly made mandatory.