All Austrians over the age of 18 must be vaccinated by March 15 at the latest or risk heavy fines. Objective of Karl Nehammer’s government: to reach the 90% vaccination rate as quickly as possible.
It’s now official: Austria will become the first European country to make adult vaccination against Covid-19 compulsory from 1is next February. Chancellor Karl Nehammer presented this Sunday to the press the final version of his bill to this effect, reports the daily Die Standard.
The text, which must be voted on by the Chamber on Thursday January 20, provides that vaccination will be compulsory for all adults over the age of 18, excluding pregnant women and people who cannot receive the vaccine for medical. From March 15, checks may be carried out and those who have not been vaccinated may incur fines ranging from 600 to 3,600 euros in the event of a repeat offense.
After the “adaptation phase”, the sanctions
The Austrian government has planned a “phase d’adaptation” until mid-March due to the “sensitive character” of the project, recognizes Chancellor Nehammer, who nevertheless considers it “in accordance with the Constitution”.
The current coalition in power is sure to gather a large majority in the chamber on its project: in addition to the conservatives of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Greens, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, leader of the Social Democratic Party (ROD), and Beate Meinl-Reisinger, who leads the Liberal Party (NEOS) announced that they were ready to support the text. Only the FPÖ, on the far right, remains adamantly opposed to compulsory vaccination.
While 27,000 people demonstrated in Vienna on Saturday against the government’s plan, accused of violating individual freedoms, the number of new coronavirus infections remains very high in Austria, highlights the daily The press. The Ministry of Health reported 16,749 new cases and 10 additional deaths in 24 hours. Since the start of the pandemic, nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases have been documented in this country of 8.9 million inhabitants and a total of 13,915 people have died as a result of their contamination.
At present, 78.5% of Austrians eligible for vaccination would have a complete vaccination schedule. The objective of the Austrian government, which aims for herd immunity, is to very quickly achieve a vaccination rate of 90%.