Austrians: get vaccinated or face fines

Austria was plunged into a new Covid crisis today after the government imposed mandatory vaccines for everyone from February and put the country into full lockdown.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and Health Minister Wolfgang Muckstein announced that those who are not vaccinated will be penalised, possibly with non-criminal fines. The details of the fines have yet to be worked out. The new lockdown starts on Monday and will last until December 12, when the restrictions will be reviewed again.

Following criticism from Herbert Kickl, the leader of the FPO populist party, that the move was that of a “dictatorship” and “unconstitutional”, the health minister said that constitutional lawyers had been consulted on the move and that it appears to be “legal.” This latest move to impose mandatory vaccines follows on from the government’s earlier decision to lock down the unvaccinated, a measure dubbed health apartheid by many. 

Muckstein added that a proper legal review process will be carried out ahead of the February deadline when the new law will come into effect.

Austria has one of the highest Covid infection rates in western Europe, and the country’s intensive care beds are said to be over-flowing with patients. The authorities blame the low level of vaccine take-up, with just 66 per cent of the population vaccinated.  While this is above the European average of 62 per cent, it is well below the 70 per cent level at which herd immunity is theoretically thought to be reached. The country reported 15,809 new cases on Friday – another one-day record – with an infection rate of 990.7 per 100,000 over the last week, one of Europe’s highest.

But it is by no means the only European country to see soaring levels of infections and tighter restrictions. Germany recorded over 65,000 new cases on Thursday, the highest since the pandemic began. Health minister, Jens Spahn, has urged people to reduce their social contacts, and to work from home where possible. Some states have passed new laws to introduce tighter restrictions if the number of hospital admissions reaches a certain level. In Bavaria, Christmas markets have been closed because of the soaring rate and Spahn has not ruled out a new lockdown over Christmas, declaring the country is in a ‘national emergency.’ 

Many other European countries have also imposed tighter controls on the unvaccinated. In Italy, citizens must use a vaccine passport to travel on intercity trains, go to the gym and even to enter their workplace whether it be public or private sector job. 

In Greece and Czech Republic, the unvaccinated will be barred from indoor spaces including restaurants and cinemas from Monday. 

Even Sweden, which took a more relaxed approach to the pandemic, is introducing vaccine passports from the start of December for concerts and other large indoor events. Lena Hallengren, the country’s Social Affairs Minister, stresses that Swedes have a social obligation to come forward for their jabs to help protect others: “You who are unvaccinated cannot just carry on as normal; your most important contribution is to get vaccinated.”

Closer to home, Scots are required to prove vaccination status to enter nightclubs and large events. Similar restrictions now apply in Northern Ireland and Wales.

But the big question is do vaccine passports work in controlling the virus? While YouGov polling suggests that vaccine passports are supported across much of Europe, including the UK, because they provide a sense of reassurance, there is little evidence that they are effective. 

They do seem to prompt those with reservations about vaccines to take the plunge for the sake of a return to normal(ish) life. 

As Rome-based journalist Mark Lowen puts it:  “Nothing motivates an Italian like threatening to bar them from their favourite trattoria.” Indeed, when vaccine passes were introduced, there was a spike in demand for vaccine appointments, and now, Italy has one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe, with around 82% of the population double-jabbed. 

French vaccination rates also shot up in August after Presient Macron introduced a ”Passe Sanitaire”, for access to bars, museums and TGV trains. Now, over 88% of over 12s have been vaccinated. Yet
France reported over 20, 000 new Covid cases on Wednesday for the first time since August, despite its stringent pass sanitaire. 

While vaccines shield against severe illness, evidence about their efficacy in preventing transmission of the virus is patchier. 

A recent Dutch study found double-jabbed people infected with the delta variant are 63 per cent less likely to infect people. But the Nuffield Department of Medicine showed the vaccine’s ability to stop the spread of the virus wanes fairly quickly over time. Just 12 weeks after their second AstraZeneca dose, vaccinated individuals in this study were almost as infectious as the unvaccinated. 

So far in the UK we have avoided passports, and seem to be for now an outlier when it comes to rising infections. Today’s ONS figures showed one in 65 people had Covid last week, down from one in 60 the week before. This if the first time the number of people test positive for the virus has dipped below one million since the start of October. Cross your fingers it lasts.