Austria will confine its entire population on Monday and has decided to make “compulsory vaccination” from February 1, becoming the first country in the European Union to take such measures in the face of the resurgence of cases. of Covid.
We must “face reality”, said Conservative Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg at a press conference in Tyrol, after discussions with all the regional governors.
“Despite months of persuasive work, we have not been able to convince enough people to get vaccinated,” he said, lamenting the current overload of intensive care units.
“Sustainably increasing the vaccination rate is the only way out of this vicious circle,” said Schallenberg, judging that it was the “exit ticket” from the pandemic.
While an increasing number of countries require vaccination certificates for certain categories, such as health workers, very few in the world require vaccination for their entire adult population.
This is the case in two authoritarian states in Central Asia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, as well as in the Vatican. A French territory in the South Pacific with wide autonomy, New Caledonia has also decided to impose vaccination from the end of December.
The Austrian chancellor also announced confinement until December 13, a decision which was “not easy to take” and which will be reassessed in ten days.
He said he was aware that we were asking “a lot” of those vaccinated, “because too many people did not show solidarity”.
In Europe, the pandemic is racing and several countries have announced a tightening of restrictions in recent days.
German officials on Thursday decided to impose severe restrictions on unvaccinated people and paved the way for compulsory vaccinations for healthcare workers, while Greece prohibits unvaccinated people from entering closed spaces, except for places to eat.
“Dictatorship”
Since Monday already in Austria, the two million unvaccinated people were no longer allowed to leave their homes except for shopping, sports or for medical care.
Now, the entire population of 8.9 million inhabitants is affected by the measure in this country with a vaccination rate of 66%, slightly below the European average, despite the introduction of a health passport from spring.
Schools remain open for now but parents are encouraged to keep children at home if they can. Telecommuting is strongly recommended.
The restrictions that had been recently taken by the government led to a marked increase in the number of registrations in vaccination centers.
But the number of cases continues to increase, standing at unprecedented levels since the emergence of the pandemic: Thursday, more than 15,000 new contaminations were recorded.
“We have too many political forces in this country which vehemently oppose vaccination”, criticized the Chancellor, denouncing an “attack on our health system”.
A demonstration supported by the far-right FPÖ party is scheduled for Saturday in Vienna and thousands of people are expected.
Its anti-vaccine chief, tested positive for the coronavirus, will not be able to attend. “Austria is now a dictatorship!” Herbert Kickl said on Friday in the face of the new measures.