Austria is set to impose a nationwide lockdown for people who have not been vaccinated against COVID, becoming the first country in the world to impose such a measure.
According to Austria Press Agency report, the “lockdown for unvaccinated people” will come into effect throughout Austria on Monday night, per the draft of the “Fifth Covid Protective Measures Ordinance” that is expected to get “certain” formal approval from the federal legislature on Sunday.
Austrians who fail to present proof of their COVID vaccination or are unable to prove that they have recovered from COVID in the past 180 days will only be allowed to leave their home for reasons such as work, exercise, necessary shopping, or for a doctor visit. Austrian authorities will “make possible” for the unvaccinated and those not recovered from COVID “satisfaction of basic religious needs” and education.
Pregnant women as well as children under 12 are excluded from the rule since the latter are not yet eligible to get a COVID shot in the Alpine nation.
Those partially vaccinated would be allowed to attend all public places if they present a fresh negative PCR test.
Unvaccinated Austrians have already been excluded from going to local restaurants, sports facilities, and hairdressers.
The new restriction provided in the upcoming ordinance will also be “limited to the supply of basic goods” that the unvaccinated people could buy at the stores.
The measures provided for in the federal regulation will only serve as a “minimum framework” of the response to the COVID surge. The individual Austrian states have rights to enact stricter rules, as signaled by the governors of Upper Austria and Salzburg.
APA report adds that on Sunday, the governors held a video conference with the federal government to discuss measures to curb the sharply increasing number of COVID cases.
The further restrictions for unvaccinated people are said to “prevent a collapse in medical care,” as described in the draft regulation.
The regulation is initially valid for 10 days and would then have to be extended if the cases continue to rise.
Speaking on Friday, Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said that “The dynamic is extraordinary, and the occupancy rates of intensive care units are rising faster than expected” and implied that the restrictions for the unvaccinated must be toughened to avoid a future general lockdown — especially during the Christmas holidays and the upcoming tourist season.
Schallenberg categorically rejected the possibility of locking down the vaccinated despite their proven ability to spread the virus at similar rates to the unvaccinated (see here and here), saying:
For me it is clear: there should be no lockdown of the vaccinated out of solidarity for the unvaccinated. That would be incomprehensible, it would destroy the incentive to vaccinate.
The chancellor added that “in terms of democratic politics” the majority should not be “held hostage” by the minority. Schallenberg, ironically, appeared to have no problem with holding people who refuse to get inoculated with experimental gene therapeutics hostage, literally, until they comply.
Health Minister Wolfgang Muckstein, who joined the chancellor for Friday’s press conference, said the government had been reluctant to introduce the latest measure, but justified it by saying:
The majority of the population, who have done the right thing, who have protected themselves — now we have to protect them too.
The minister did not explain why would people who have presumably already gotten the protection from the virus by receiving a vaccine would need millions of their compatriots to be sent into a lockdown just to boost their protection even more.
Local European outlet Euractiv noted that in late October, Austria introduced a five-phase plan, explicitly banning the unvaccinated from certain venues and activities in a bid to avoid future large-scale lockdowns.
The upcoming lockdown rules correlate with the fourth stage of the plan, while the fifth and final phase “would introduce a fully-fledged lockdown for all unvaccinated.”
The report adds that with around one-fourth of intensive care units currently occupied by vaccinated persons, the government is trying to incentivize people to get their recently approved COVID booster shot — a message also voiced by the chancellor on Friday.
The proof of vaccination with the second dose is now only valid for nine months. After that period, everyone older than 18 will have to get a third jab to retain their valid vaccination status.
The announcement of the harsh restrictions resulted in many people rushing to vaccination sites, per the outlet: On Saturday alone, 32,000 people got vaccinated, while 210,000 got the shot over the past week.
On Wednesday the daily new case rate in the country of 8.9 million was 11,398, the highest number recorded since the beginning of the pandemic. According to WorldOMeter, out of all 948,100 COVID-infected Austrians, 830,831 recovered, and 11,689, or one percent of all infected, died.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday that Europe is the only region where both COVID cases and deaths were increasing. The globalist organization has warned that the continent could see another half a million deaths by February. WHO officials blamed two factors for the new wave: The relaxation of COVID “protective” measures, and a relatively poor vaccination coverage in the Balkans and toward the east of the continent.
