Austria moves to impose mandatory vaccination as the only way to fight coronavirus

The government of Austria today insisted on his plan to impose mandatory vaccination as the only alternative to combat the pandemic of coronavirus, a measure that, according to some media, would include fines of up to 7,200 euros to those who do not comply.

The Executive, made up of the Popular Party and the Greens, announced today that it intends to present the bill next week, so that within a month it is approved by Parliament and can enter into force in February.

“Mandatory vaccination is safe,” said Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein, who affirmed that “there is no alternative” to this measure and asked the population to be vaccinated without waiting for it to take effect.

Beforehand, key issues must be clarified, such as the minimum age from which the obligation will govern, how many doses of a vaccine will be required, whether the validity of the law will be limited to a specific period, and what penalties those who do not comply will face.

According to some experts in constitutional law, the measure could become obsolete if the vaccination rate reaches a level that is considered safe, since the measure would lose the “proportionality” requirement.

The Viennese newspaper “Die Presse” said today that there is a “draft of a proposal” that provides fines of up to 7,200 euros for those who do not get vaccinated, although the Government did not want to confirm that amount today.

The Minister for the Constitution, the conservative Karoline Edstadler, did admit today that the obligation to be vaccinated involves an interference with fundamental rights, but stressed that the European Court of Human Rights has supported it in certain situations.

While some European countries have already adopted mandatory vaccination for employees in certain sectors, such as Health, Austria is the only one so far to announce a general obligation.

The country has been in lockdown for a week, with gastronomy, hotels, museums, gyms and non-essential businesses closed, in an attempt to ease the burden on hospitals in the current wave of the pandemic.

Experts attribute the poor epidemiological situation in the country, which in November set several absolute records of infections, largely to the fact that only 66% of the population has received the full vaccination schedule.

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