Austria wants to loosen corona rules "strongly" soon - technology problem with compulsory vaccination seeps through
Created: 02/07/2022Updated: 02/07/2022, 10:00 am
By: Franziska Schwarz
Corona scene from Vienna (archive image): Austria is planning further relaxation of measures.
© Volker Preusser/Imago
The German-speaking neighboring country is the first in the EU to have general corona vaccination.
According to a report, the implementation already raises practical questions.
Vienna - The Austrian "Covid Prognosis Consortium" had good news earlier this month.
It expects the latest omicron wave in the country to have peaked.
The reason is the higher infectivity of the variant – and the vaccination, which protects people from a severe course.
As the Austrian portal
oe24.at claims
to have learned, the government is therefore planning to end further pandemic protection measures in March.
Then the guest restrictions for events, which are currently 2000, could be "strongly" relaxed.
In addition, the curfew in the catering trade should fall, but the FFP2 mask requirement will continue to apply, according to the report.
On Saturday (February 5), the general obligation to vaccinate against corona also came into force in Austria - the first such measure in the fight against the pandemic in the EU.
But according to another report, problems are already emerging.
Corona vaccination obligation in Austria: technical problems in exceptional cases
The vaccination requirement for all people over the age of 18 residing in Austria is subject to penalties of 600 to 3600 euros in the event of violations.
Exceptions apply to pregnant women and those who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons.
Those who have recovered are also exempt for 180 days.
The Austrian newspaper
Der Standard
is now reporting "technical ambiguities" with these exceptions.
According to the law, doctors must have the reason for the exception entered in the vaccination register.
However, according to information from the
standard
, there is still no central digital storage system.
Some federal states have therefore requested a solution from the Ministry of Health - and this in turn pointed out that they are allowed to build their own digital systems.
However, this would lead to an "immense effort" if, for example, a Viennese woman were checked in Salzburg, the newspaper complains.
Austria is the first EU country to have general corona vaccination
The electronic health record (Elga) wants to make such a central upload option available “by April at the latest”, the Ministry of Health announced in response to a
standard
request.
Those affected could receive a vaccination exemption beforehand, for example from authorized special outpatient clinics.
With the introduction of mandatory vaccinations, Austria is playing a pioneering role throughout Europe.
Several states imposed partial vaccination requirements, including neighboring Italy.
From February 15, everyone over the age of 50 must be immunized against the virus there.
In Greece, vaccination has been mandatory for everyone over 60 since the beginning of the year.
In Germany, vaccination is compulsory for employees of hospitals and nursing homes from March 15th.
(frs)
