As a new wave of coronavirus hits various European countries, Austria will take drastic measures. Conservative Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg thus announced this Friday the confinement from Monday, for “a period of 20 days”, of the entire population, including therefore people with a complete vaccination schedule.
The country will also impose vaccination from February 1 for refractories. At present, the vaccination rate in Austria is 66%, slightly below the European average, despite the introduction of a health pass in the spring. Austria thus becomes the first European country to take such measures to fight the Covid-19 epidemic.
Two million unvaccinated already confined
We have to “look reality in the face”, said Alexander Schallenberg at a press conference in Tyrol, after discussions with all the regional governors. “Despite months of persuasion, we have not been able to convince enough people to get vaccinated,” he said, lamenting the current overload of intensive care units.
Since Monday, the two million unvaccinated people in this country of 8.9 million inhabitants were no longer allowed to leave their homes except for shopping, sports or for medical care. A restriction which has led to a marked increase in the number of registrations in vaccination centers. But the number of cases continues to increase, standing at unprecedented levels since the emergence of the pandemic: Thursday, more than 15,000 new contaminations were recorded.