Relentless pressure to raise vaccination rates in Europe is beginning to bear fruit as governments make delivering more Covid-19 shots the core of their strategies to slow rising infections, but pockets of resistance to the shots mean some countries are leaning toward general vaccine mandates.

So far, Europe’s vaccine campaign is mainly stick and no carrot. For the past few weeks, authorities have introduced new restrictions, barring the unvaccinated from most nonessential aspects of public life and forcing them to take frequent,...

Relentless pressure to raise vaccination rates in Europe is beginning to bear fruit as governments make delivering more Covid-19 shots the core of their strategies to slow rising infections, but pockets of resistance to the shots mean some countries are leaning toward general vaccine mandates.

So far, Europe’s vaccine campaign is mainly stick and no carrot. For the past few weeks, authorities have introduced new restrictions, barring the unvaccinated from most nonessential aspects of public life and forcing them to take frequent, sometimes expensive, Covid-19 tests to carry out more activities, including going to work.

In most cases, vaccination numbers have risen, though the increase can also be credited to vaccinated people getting booster shots, access to which has been eased almost everywhere.

The number of first or second vaccine doses administered in the European Union as a whole stood at 596.46 million by Dec. 1, up 2.4% in one month, while the number of booster shots rose more than 3½ times to 45.21 million, according to Oxford University’s Our World in Data website. About 67% of Europeans now are fully vaccinated.

The daily pace of vaccinations has also increased rapidly since mid-October. On Dec. 1, 2.28 million people received a vaccine dose in the EU, more than three times the level of a month-and-a-half ago, according to the site.

In the EU as a whole, Covid-19 case numbers have flattened over the past week, though it should be too early for the increase in vaccinations to be the cause. The situation also varies from country to country: Daily case numbers in Austria and the Netherlands have been falling since late November from a high level, they have plateaued in Germany, and are still rising rapidly in France from a lower base.

Lockdowns, vaccine requirements and travel restrictions have swept Europe amid rising Covid infections and concerns over a variant detected in South Africa, highlighting new challenges ahead for the U.S. as officials want to avoid more shutdowns. The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition

Almost everywhere, unvaccinated people face a repeat of last year’s bleak pre-Christmas season, being largely banned from bars, restaurants, arts, sports and entertainment venues in Germany, France, Italy or Austria, and in some cases even from organizing gatherings in their homes.

On Thursday, German authorities introduced a nationwide lockdown for those without proof of immunity to Covid-19 by harmonizing a patchwork of regional restrictions across the country. Unvaccinated residents will now be barred from all nonessential shops and entertainment venues unless they have medical reasons not to get vaccinated and will have to carry a negative test to use public transport.

Departing Chancellor Angela Merkel

said the vaccination rate—68% of Germany’s population is fully vaccinated—was too low to avert pressure from hospitals, which are becoming so overwhelmed in some regions that the air force has been flying some patients out of the worst-hit areas.

However, vaccination rates have shot up. On Dec. 1, 687,238 vaccines were administered in the country, up from a daily low of 123,794 in early October, according to Our World in Data. Overall, 11.2 million shots were given in the country of more than 83 million inhabitants in the past month.

German authorities have introduced a nationwide lockdown for those without proof of immunity to Covid.

Photo: Marcus Brandt/Zuma Press

In neighboring Austria, which introduced similar rules last week, authorities reported record vaccination figures in some regions. A government spokesman said that between 10,000 and 20,000 people were now showing up daily to get their first dose, adding that the rules were inspired by behavioral studies showing that vaccination skeptics would use them as an excuse to take the shot.

In Italy, a partial lockdown targeting the unvaccinated will kick off on Dec. 6 and remain in place until Jan. 15. The share of Italians who got at least one dose grew to 78% on Dec. 1, from 73% in mid-September when the mandatory requirements for workers were announced, according to Our World in Data.

Yet the pace of vaccination among over-50s, who are most at risk from the disease, and those 12 to 19 who are most actively spreading it, is still too low, according to Gimbe, a research group that tracks data on the pandemic.

Despite riots in the Netherlands after a slight tightening of Covid-19 restrictions last month, protests have been relatively muted in Europe. In most places, businesses have been at the forefront of the opposition.

Medical staff waiting to administer the Pfizer vaccine in Strasbourg, France.

Photo: Jean-Francois Badias/Associated Press

The hairdressers association in the German state of Lower Saxony said its members faced a revenue loss of up to 40%. And retailers in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg were facing a drop of revenue of up to 40% in the festive season, said Nils Busch-Petersen, head of the retail association there.

“Our employees must now play police in controlling the measures and endure confrontation with customers,” he said.

In France, which faced widespread vaccine reluctance earlier in the year, the unvaccinated must present a test not older than 72 hours to access bars, restaurants, gyms or theaters. Each test costs over €20, equivalent to around $23, and is no longer subsidized by the government for unvaccinated people. Today, roughly 75% of French people are fully vaccinated, according to government figures.

Despite such progress, resistance from determined opponents of vaccines and concern about the recently discovered and potentially highly infectious Omicron variant of the virus are prompting more governments to consider making Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for all.

Austria was the first to do so, announcing two weeks ago that vaccines would be mandatory from February. Authorities there have booked appointments for people who have not yet received the shot and sent them invitations by mail. Should they refuse to take up the offer, they could face fines of up to €3,500 as of Feb. 1.

In Germany, parliament will debate a general vaccine mandate in the coming weeks. The country had mandatory smallpox vaccination until the 1980s and recently reintroduced mandatory vaccination for measles.

People waiting to register for vaccinations in Vienna.

Photo: Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press

A general vaccine mandate could persuade some skeptics to get the shot without losing face, said Jens Spahn, Germany’s health minister.

“One must build an argumentative bridge for those who have dug in their heels by arguing against vaccination in their circle of friends and family,” he said on Friday.

So far, most countries are targeting specific groups. Greece, for example, has made Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for people over 60 years old. A €100 fine will be levied beginning on Jan. 16 on those who haven’t received at least one Covid vaccine dose or made an appointment before that date to get their first shot. In Italy, administrative workers in the healthcare sector, teachers and other school employees, army and police will have to be vaccinated from Dec. 15. In France, healthcare workers refusing the vaccine are being suspended without pay.

A Greek government spokesman said the compulsory vaccination of the elderly has encouraged more people to book an appointment for their shot. However, around 520,000 people over 60, or 17% of this age group, are still unvaccinated in the 10 million-strong country.

The spokesman said that Greece made the vaccination mandatory for over 60s “not as punishment, but to protect them.”

An elderly woman leaving a vaccination center in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Photo: Konstantinos Tsakalidis/Bloomberg News

Write to Bojan Pancevski at bojan.pancevski@wsj.com and Giovanni Legorano at giovanni.legorano@wsj.com