About 65% of the Austrian population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.
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Austria forced to react. Faced with the fifth wave and to stem the record number of new cases of Covid-19, the Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced Sunday, November 14, that unvaccinated or unhealed people should be confined from Monday. “The situation is serious (…). We are not taking this measure with a light heart, but unfortunately it is necessary”, he told a press conference in Vienna, as more than 13,000 new cases were recorded on Saturday.
About 65% of the population received both doses of the vaccine in the country, which is lower than the European average of 67% and far from countries like Spain (79%) or France (75%). The Chancellor himself described this rate as “shamefully low”, when he reported on this containment project on Friday. Concretely, the people concerned will not have the right to leave their home except for shopping, sports or for medical care.
The measure applies from the age of 12. Unannounced checks will be carried out. The government will assess the effect of these restrictions in 10 days, Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein said on Sunday. He called on the refractory to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Parliament must approve the measure in the evening.