The population of Austria, including people vaccinated against Covid-19, they will have to respect a confinement starting next Monday and vaccination will be mandatory from February 1 in the country, which becomes the first state in the European Union to adopt such drastic measures against the resurgence of the pandemic.
The Conservative Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced this tightening of restrictions on Friday after meeting with local authorities and explained at a press conference that it is necessary to “look at reality head-on.”
We have not been able to convince people enough to get vaccinated, “he said, explaining that the intensive care units are already experiencing a critical situation.
“Increasing the number of vaccinated is the only way to get out of this vicious circle,” he added, explaining that this measure will be a kind of “exit ticket” from the pandemic.
Although a growing number of countries impose a vaccination certificate For some sectors, such as health personnel, very few in the world require their entire adult population to be vaccinated.
This is the case of two authoritarian states in Central Asia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and the Vatican. The French territory of New Caledonia, in the Pacific, which has significant autonomy, also decided to make vaccination mandatory from the end of December.
“Dictatorship”
Austria, which has already established confinement for the unvaccinated since last Monday, will extend the measure as of Monday and for 20 days for all vaccinated.
According to the foreign minister, the decision “was not easy to make” and will be reevaluated in ten days.
Schallenberg admitted that “a lot” is being asked of vaccinated people because “too many people are not showing solidarity.”
For weeks, several European countries have registered a worrying increase in coronavirus cases and have decided to tighten restrictions.
On Thursday, German officials imposed severe sanctions on the unvaccinated and hinted at a mandatory vaccination for health personnel. In Greece, the unvaccinated were banned from indoors, except in restaurants.
In Austria, since last Monday, unvaccinated people cannot leave home except to shop, play sports or receive medical care.
Of the 8.9 million inhabitants of the country, 66% are fully vaccinated, a percentage slightly lower than the European average, despite the fact that the country established a health passport in the spring (boreal).
For now the schools are open, but parents are encouraged to leave their children at home if they can and are encouraged to telecommute.
The measures taken by the Austrian government these days already had a positive effect as the number of people who have requested an appointment to be vaccinated increased.
But number of Covid-19 cases continues to grow and on Thursday, the country registered 15,000 new infections.
We have too many political forces in this country that vehemently oppose “vaccination,” criticized the chancellor, denouncing an “attack on the Austrian health system.”
On Saturday the far-right party FPÖ has organized a demonstration in Vienna in which thousands of people are expected.
Its leader, a convinced anti-vaccine militant, has tested positive for coronavirus and will not be able to participate. “Austria is now a dictatorship,” Herbert Kickl said on Friday before the new measures announced by the government.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx