Will compulsory vaccination soon be history again in Austria? The expert commission submits its first report. An explosive decision is pending.
Vienna – It was a bang! Austria introduces compulsory Corona* vaccinations for everyone over the age of 18. With a clear result, the members of the Austrian Parliament voted for compulsory vaccination. That was on January 20, 2022. The law on compulsory vaccination has been in force in the Alpine republic since February 1.
Vaccination obligation in Austria before the end?
Is vaccination now supposed to be history again? That sounds a bit exaggerated. But before the law is “sharpened” in Austria, and those who refuse to vaccinate face penalties, an expert commission should submit a report for evaluation. The government has set up this compulsory vaccination commission. Since February 17, four experts, two each from medicine and the judiciary, have been dealing with the law. Above all, they check the proportionality of the law with regard to the current corona situation.
The law has been criticized since compulsory vaccination began. Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) did not rule out an end. Nehammer emphasized in various interviews that he wanted to stick to the recommendation of the expert council. The expert commission didn’t even exist back then.
In addition to the criticism of the obligation to vaccinate, Zoff about vaccination checks, there are also problems with the implementation. The Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported on “technical ambiguities”. A central digital storage system to enter exceptional cases of compulsory vaccination would be missing.
Many corona rules in Austria have fallen – now the vaccination requirement is overturned
Austria has now largely abolished all corona rules on March 5th. In the clubs people dance without masks, the vaccination status or the like is no longer checked, even the 3G rule in the workplace. It therefore seems unlikely that in mid-March people who were actually unvaccinated would face penalties and sanctions. In Austria, almost one million adults are currently violating compulsory vaccination (13 percent). This is according to data from the Ministry of Health. 5.69 million are already vaccinated.
Compulsory vaccinations in Austria – This applies from February 2022 – actually
- The vaccination obligation applies to all persons over the age of 18 residing in Austria. You must then show a valid vaccination status.
- After the end of the initial phase on March 15th, there will be random checks by the police.
- Anyone who refuses to be vaccinated faces fines of between 600 and 3,600 euros.
- There should be exceptions for pregnant women and people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
Corona new infections in Austria
The number of new infections in Austria is still extremely high. 30,939 new infections and 45 corona deaths were recorded within 24 hours. The nationwide 7-day incidence is most recently 2,470.5. For comparison: In Germany, the value rose to 1293.6 on Tuesday. (ml) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
