Corona vaccination compulsory in Austria wobbles: Is this also why the traffic light is hesitant?

Created: 01/11/2022, 5:07 PM

From: Andreas Schmid

Olaf Scholz on a guest visit in Austria.

Is the Chancellor orienting himself towards the introduction of mandatory vaccination on Vienna?

© Alex Halada / Imago (archive photo)

In Austria, vaccination will be compulsory from February 1st, but until then there will still be a number of problems.

Are they also relevant for Germany?

Vienna - Austria and Germany are the only two western democracies in which there is currently intensive discussion about compulsory vaccination.

In some countries, such as France, there is a so-called job-related compulsory vaccination, for example in the care sector, or partial vaccination in certain age groups, as in Italy.

However, only Austria and Germany are planning a comprehensive vaccination requirement.

Austria has long since made it mandatory to have vaccinations.

It should be implemented in February.

Until then, however, there are still a number of unanswered questions that may also have an impact on Germany.

Austria: Chancellor Nehammer wants to maintain vaccination requirements

The Austrian draft law for compulsory corona vaccination has triggered a flood of critical reactions.

As Parliament announced, more than 108,000 statements have been received from private individuals and institutions - more than any other law before.

Despite the concerns expressed by judges and experts, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) wants to introduce the regulation as planned at the beginning of February.

"From my point of view, there is no doubt about the necessity of compulsory vaccination," said the politician of the APA news agency.

But now there are more and more doubts.

Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), Federal Chancellor of Austria, speaks out in favor of compulsory vaccination.

© Hans Punz / APA / dpa

Compulsory vaccination: organization and bureaucracy - underestimated hurdles?

First of all, there are organizational hurdles that seem harder to overcome than expected. The plan of the black-green government provides that all unvaccinated people will be asked to vaccinate by letter at the beginning of February. If this is not done by the beginning of March, there is a fine of 600 euros. In the event of persistent non-compliance, a new penalty will be imposed after three months.

The question remains who is vaccinated and who is not. In order to answer this question, the Austrian authorities need the vaccination status of the citizens. For this reason, a vaccination register is currently being set up in the Alpine republic, as is also being discussed in Germany. That, in turn, takes time - and apparently more than the government expected. The medical data service provider of the federal and state governments warned in the course of the parliamentary assessment that it would not be able to technically implement the regulation until April at the earliest.

Austria has a vaccination rate similar to that of Germany.

73 percent compared to 72 percent.

Around nine million people live in Austria.

If children and people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are excluded, around one million unvaccinated Austrians remain.

Informing these people and sanctioning them - possibly several times - could pose problems for the Austrian authorities, which are already sparsely staffed.

Even in the far more bureaucratized Germany, the authorities would probably reach their limits.

Video: Austria - compulsory vaccination wobbles a lot

Omikron and effectiveness: "Legally, the compulsory vaccination could then wobble"

It is obvious that the burden on the authorities increases when citizens have to be vaccinated several times a year. While booster vaccinations are taking place in many places, the fourth injection is already being discussed. The fourth vaccination has already started in Israel. Because the effectiveness of a vaccination decreases over time. A vaccination still provides better protection against a severe disease course, but there is criticism that the virus is only inadequately prevented from being passed on. The significantly more contagious omicron variant is currently causing an increase in infections - in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

These developments in turn give rise to legal concerns, as the Austrian medical law professor Karl Stöger

describes: “Legally, the compulsory vaccination could wobble if the vaccination no longer provides reliable protection due to mutations in the virus or if the doctors agree: Because of the high Degree of contamination by the omicron wave, the goal of preventing the overloading of health systems is achieved even without vaccination. "

Stöger, professor at the University of Vienna, points out, however, that this view is a minority opinion in the scientific discourse.

“Most epidemiologists assume that the vaccination will remain necessary despite the anticipated contamination by Omikron.” Also with a view to the future: “It is possible that infections that have passed through protect effectively against re-infection for only a few months.

Without a compulsory vaccination, you could be in the situation again in a year of having to think about a lockdown. "

Compulsory vaccination: How is Germany reacting to the situation in Austria?

Until there is a general compulsory vaccination in Germany, there are still unanswered questions.

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had spoken out in favor of a general vaccination requirement coming into force in early February or early March.

The MPs should decide freely without having to stick to a certain group line.

Not much has happened since then.

From the ranks of the coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, an application by Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki is known in which a vaccination requirement is rejected.

The headwind from the FDP seems to be increasing.

As a result, the compulsory vaccination in Germany recently shook worryingly.

Most recently there were reports that the Bundestag would not discuss the compulsory vaccination until mid-March and that it could come into force at the beginning of May at the earliest.

Is the traffic light hesitating because of concerns from Austria?

At least she will keep a close eye on developments in the Alpine republic.

It would not be the first time that Germany would orient itself to its southern neighbor in terms of pandemic policy.