Austria will enter another nationwide Covid-19 lockdown and will make vaccination compulsory from February, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced Friday, becoming one of the few countries in the world to take the drastic step to mandate shots as it struggles to boost stagnant vaccination rates and contain record levels of Covid-19.

Austria has some of the highest Covid-19 case rates and lowest vaccination rates in Europe. Despite a ready availability of safe and effective vaccines, around two-thirds of the population is fully vaccinated. Other European countries are also facing a renewed surge of Covid-19 and are starting to crack down on vaccine holdouts in a bid to control rising infections.