Fewer and fewer Austrians are getting vaccinated. Chancellor Nehammer is therefore in favor of incentives for the third vaccination. But he doesn’t have a concrete plan yet.
The number of vaccinations has plummeted in Austria. According to the authorities, the seven-day average has now dropped to 36,000 a day. A month ago, the weekly average was around 110,000 vaccinations per day. Furthermore, it is mostly a booster vaccination, only about ten percent of the injections are first sticks. Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) is now open to vaccination premiums.
Anything that will help get more people vaccinated before the Compulsory vaccination come into force, is “a positive signal,” said Nehammer on Wednesday the Austrian news agency APA. Most recently, the opposition SPÖ A 500 euro voucher is required for everyone who contributes to a higher vaccination rate with the third trick. It is currently just under 71 percent.
“Radical Individualism”
He considers it a “very good approach” to motivate vaccination in a positive way – “at what level and in what form, the experts should think about it,” said Nehammer.
Meanwhile, the authorities fear that the mandatory vaccination planned from February will further drive radicalization among Corona skeptics. A “radical individualism” is spreading, which is noticeable in social media in uninhibited language, said the head of the State Security and Intelligence Service (DSN), Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) is particularly concerned about the safety of the medical staff, who are increasingly exposed to intimidation and abuse.