VIENNA — Austria will become the first European country
to make COVID-19 vaccination compulsory for adults in February,
Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Sunday, acknowledging that it was a “sensitive topic”.
اضافة اعلان
Nehammer, a
conservative who took office in December, said those who didn’t comply would
face a hefty fine.
“We will decide
on compulsory vaccination as planned. It will come into force at the beginning
of February” for adults, he told a news conference.
Since plans for
compulsory jabs were first announced last year, Austria has seen impassioned
debate both in parliament and beyond on the issue.
To date 71.5
percent of eligible Austrian residents have had their jabs — several percentage
points below many of the country’s
EU neighbors.
Nehammer
acknowledged the decision covered “a totally sensitive topic” but said it
followed careful consideration.
He warned that
after an “entry phase” for the policy, restrictions would be “tightened
accordingly” in mid-March on those holding out against the jab, including fines
of between 600–3,600 euros.
Saturday saw
some 27,000 people demonstrate in
Vienna against the measure which opponents
dub an attack on personal freedoms.
On Thursday
Parliament is due to pass into law a bill which initially was set to cover all
people from 14 upwards but now will cover adults only.
Exceptions will
be made for pregnant women and those who can show they have a medical exemption.
The government
has widespread support for a policy which only the far-right is opposing.
Austria has to
date seen almost 14,000 COVID-related deaths and 1.4 million cases in a
population of some nine million.
Compulsory
vaccinations against COVID remain rare worldwide, though Ecuador, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Indonesia, and Micronesia have introduced such schemes.
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