Adults should get the vaccine.
The Austrian government announced this Sunday that from February 1 the mandatory coronavirus vaccine will be applied to all residents over 18 years of age, that is, for about 7.4 of the 8.9 million inhabitants of the country. Central European.
After an initial phase of transition and information, the Austrian police will start on March 16 to carry out random checks on the vaccination status of people.
From then on, unvaccinated Austrian residents can be fined 600 euros ($685), up to four times a year.
The authorities will also send a reminder letter to all unvaccinated people, a precise law agreed by the ruling conservative and environmentalist parties in negotiation with two opposition parties (social democrats and liberals).
If a satisfactory level of vaccination is not reached, a third phase of the law will be applied, with a mandatory appointment to be vaccinated and in case of ignoring the authorities, a fine will be applied automatically, twice a year, with a maximum amount 3,600 euros ($4,100) per year.
At this time, 74% of the Austrian population has been vaccinated with the full schedule (two or three doses) against the coronavirus, which since the outbreak of the pandemic has caused almost 14,000 deaths in the country.
Apart from those under 18 years of age, pregnant women and people with certain pathologies will be exempt from the mandatory vaccination.
“Each one is responsible for their health and makes their own decisions. But we are a community and when it comes to the security of the community, then we all have responsibility”, said the federal chancellor, the Christian Democrat Karl Nehammer, before the press when presenting the law.
Despite broad support in Parliament, with four out of five parties in favour, the mandatory vaccine has caused controversy in Austria.
The ultra-nationalist opposition party FPÖ vehemently rejects the law and has supported demonstrations in Vienna and other cities for months against the management of the pandemic and against compulsory vaccination.
The authorities today announced more than 15,400 new infections with the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest level so far for a Sunday day.
Despite the sharp rise in infections in the last week, due to the omicron variant, hospital pressure, particularly in intensive care units, continues to trend downward in Austria.
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