"The message stays the same: corona or vaccination. We should not expect that the next mutations will be milder or that there will be none at all, but rather prepare for more aggressive ones," he said in state parliament.
Soeder said the southeastern state, Germany’s least vaccinated one, was dealing with a "pandemic of the unvaccinated," while the community remained split over mandatory shots.
"Let us finally introduce compulsory vaccines in Germany. We must make this decision for the future of our country," he added.
Bavaria has scrapped Christmas markets and will toughen coronavirus curbs from Wednesday through 15 December after reporting record daily infection tallies several days in a row.
Those who have not had a shot or recently recovered from the COVID-19 will be barred from theaters, concerts, zoos, saunas and sports venues. Night clubs and discos will close entirely, while bars and restaurants will stay open until 10 p.m.