Angela Merkel has backed compulsory vaccinations as leaders agreed to bring in a de facto lockdown for the unvaccinated.

The German chancellor said that people who aren’t vaccinated will be excluded from nonessential shops, as well as cultural and recreational venues.

Speaking after a meeting with federal and state leaders, she said the measures were necessary in light of concerns that hospitals in Germany could become overloaded with people suffering Covid-19 infections.

“The situation in our country is serious,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin, calling the measure an “act of national solidarity”.

Mrs Merkel herself backed the most contentious proposal of imposing a general vaccine mandate. She said parliament would debate the proposal with input from the country’s national ethics committee.

If passed, it could take effect as early as February, Mrs Merkel said, adding that she would have voted in favour of the measure if she were still a member of parliament.

She said officials had also agreed to require masks in schools, impose new limits on private meetings and aim for 30 million vaccinations by the end of the year – an effort that will be boosted by allowing dentists and pharmacists to administer the shots.

Just over 68 per cent of the population in Germany is fully vaccinated, far below the minimum of 75 per cent the government is aiming for.