“The situation is serious in Austria. We do not take this measure out of cheerfulness, but unfortunately it is necessary, ”Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced at a press conference on Sunday. From this Monday in Austria, all people over 12 years old, who are not fully vaccinated, will have to be confined. An unprecedented measure in Europe which concerns 2 million Austrians out of the 9.8 million inhabitants. More than 13,000 new cases were recorded on Saturday, a sad record since the start of the pandemic. Other countries are also affected by this new wave. In the Netherlands, Norway or Germany, new restrictions have also been put in place, but Austria is the first country to enter into lockdown for the unvaccinated.
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Austria, which struggles to convince the most resistant to the vaccine, has only 65% of people fully protected against Covid, a figure lower than the European average (67%), still far from countries like Spain (79 %) or France (75%).
At the announcement of this differentiated confinement, hundreds of people gathered in Vienna in front of the chancellery to express their anger.
Among them, Sabine, electrical engineer, who still refuses the vaccine, denounces a discriminatory measure.
“I am here because I want to fight for my rights, these measures are absolutely discriminatory, starting with the legal obligation to be vaccinated.
I will therefore have the right to work but the rest of the day I will have to stay at home ”.
Concretely, the two million people concerned will not have the right to leave their homes except to go to work, shopping for food, outdoor sport and to receive medical care.
Unannounced checks will be carried out in the public space, with increased police patrols.
Violators risk a fine of 500 euros.
The Austrian government will assess the effects of these restrictions within ten days.
