Enlarge image
Bus with the label "Vaccination is Murder"
Photo: @krone_at / Twitter
In Austria, a driver of a regional bus was dismissed because of the inscription "Vaccination is murder" on his vehicle.
A private opinion is accepted, but not the instrumentalization of public transport to spread this view, said a spokesman for the Upper Austrian Transport Association (OÖVV) in Linz.
The driver had replaced the name of the line with his slogan on the electronic display panel on the front of the bus on Friday evening.
The action was documented by witnesses and with photos.
On that day, the Austrian government presented its plans for a general vaccination requirement.
With a seven-day incidence of around 1700 per 100,000 inhabitants, Upper Austria is particularly affected by the fourth corona wave and has a below-average vaccination rate.
Lockdown for vaccinated people too
Overall, only 65.5 percent of the people in the country with nine million people are fully vaccinated. Because of the dramatic situation, the government around Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg imposed a nationwide lockdown - also for those who had been vaccinated. The lockdown, which has been in place since Monday, will be assessed after ten days and last a maximum of 20 days, it said. By December 13th at the latest, the lockdown will be over for those who have been vaccinated and recovered, said Schallenberg. Then the 2G rule should apply again.
The head of government and his conservative government team had long spoken out against further restrictions.
Suggestions by the Green Minister of Health Wolfgang Mückstein on night exit restrictions for everyone were criticized.
But last Thursday, the federal states of Salzburg and Upper Austria, governed by the ÖVP, pushed forward with the announcement of regional lockdowns.
Local and most businesses closed, schools switched to distance learning.
Some other federal states also signaled on Thursday that they would go along with them.
bam / dpa