A generationIn the past few weeks, Austria has set many new Covid-19 records-none of them are good. On November 18th, there was 15,145 new cases For the record, this is the largest number since the pandemic began.The 7-day average of newly confirmed cases per million people is 1,395, which is more than Double the rate In countries such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
On Friday, the Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced the country’s Fourth National Blockade, Starting today, lasting 10 to 20 days. This makes Austria the second European country to implement blockade measures after Latvia, because vaccines were widely available earlier this year.Furthermore, Schellenberg announced that Austria will also become the first European introduction Compulsory vaccination Start on February 1, 2022.
Schallenberg and his Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein have previously stated that the lockdown measures will only be restored to people who have not been vaccinated. They hope this may be enough to increase vaccination rates and reduce the number of cases. The proportion of Austrians receiving the first dose of the vaccine has climbed from less than 60% in early August to 69% Austria Salzburg was overcrowded, and another nationwide blockade became inevitable. Vaccine authorization-once an unimaginable option-has been proposed.
Open discussion Vaccine authorization From summer. But former Prime Minister Sebastian Kurtz rejected this idea, preferring to resort to responsibility and personal choice. However, by the end of the summer, the country seemed to be stagnating “Maximum wax“The proportion of the population fully vaccinated against Covid-19 is already lower than the EU average.
How to implement the broad vaccine authorization is still unclear-although non-compliance can mean fines of up to £3,000, Cabinet Secretary Karoline Edtstadler said-and may be in the country or in Europe The level is questioned on the grounds of the constitution.
Recent public opinion surveys show that Austria supports vaccine authorization with a small majority. When asked to choose between various possible Covid-19 countermeasures, 41% of Austrians Mandatory vaccination-This is the most popular measure before lockdowns, night curfews, and enforcement of specific occupational vaccines. 53% of the viewers of the news channel Pulse24 said they In favor of compulsory vaccination, 44% opposed.
However, although most citizens may actually support an authorization, so far, Austrian society has serious disagreements among those who receive vaccination measures., A stubborn, unvaccinated remnant was embroiled in conspiracy theories and false information, and was attracted by far-right politics.
Saturday, Demonstration in Vienna According to police estimates, the new lockdown and mandatory announcement attracted 40,000 people. Convicted neo-Nazi Gottfried Küssel and identity leader Martin Sellner In it Those who participated. Several demonstrators, wearing yellow stars of David or holding placards, compared the mandate to the Holocaust.
Austria’s low vaccination rate and strong anti-vaccination and new coronavirus suspicion are reflected in its party politics.Austria does not have one but two open Covid skeptic parties: the Liberal Party (FPÖ) and a new movement, namely The Fundamental Rights of People’s Freedom (MFG) Party, Won the right of representation in the Upper Austrian state parliament in the regional elections in September. FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl-who tends to throw terms such as “vaccine apartheid” and “two-level society”-has adopted the equine anthelmintic drug ivermectin as a treatment Promotion. Kickl emphasized his unvaccinated status and revealed last week that he has Test positive For Covid-19.
However, there are also special political, geographic and cultural differences that lead to relatively low Covid-19 vaccination rates in Austria. The government encourages but never tries to force the hands of people who have not been vaccinated. This was particularly evident in the September elections in Upper Austria, where unvaccinated people formed a large number of potential voters. Vaccine authorization was considered a problem of losing votes, a hill where no political party hoped to die.
In the more remote and incoherent rural areas and the less affluent outer areas of Vienna, the proportion of residents born outside of Austria is larger, and the absorption rate of jabs is particularly low. It is also worth noting that the Austrians use alternative medicine, from homeopathy to home remedies, far more than the United Kingdom. The Minister of Health is a general practitioner and qualified Chinese medicine practitioner.Although Austria’s public insurance-based system Produce better health results Compared with the NHS, it has not received the same respect.
Austria has been a pioneer in European Covid-19 policy. On November 8, in order to control the number of cases, it vainly introduced the so-called “2G” rule in restaurants, movie theaters, and gyms, which means that only those who have been double stabbed or recovered from Covid-19 are in the first six Month can be entered. Austria leads, and other countries follow close behind, including many German countries. Countries that continue to fight the epidemic and stubbornly low vaccination rates will pay close attention to Austria’s mandatory vaccine launch, which may be a roadmap for future development.
