500 euro vouchers – Austria decides on compulsory vaccination and wants to start the lottery
Austria accompanies compulsory vaccination with financial incentives
In addition to the planned compulsory corona vaccination in Austria, financial incentives are to be created. The conservative-green coalition government, together with the opposition Social Democrats, announced a vaccination fleet.
In addition to compulsory vaccination, which is to be decided in parliament today, the Austrian government wants to create incentives for vaccination. A lottery is to be set up for this purpose, which draws vouchers. Also for those who have already been vaccinated.
In Austria, the conservative-green government has put together a multi-billion dollar incentive package to increase the vaccination rate in addition to compulsory vaccination for adults. In a vaccination fleet, participants who have already been vaccinated and those who are only just being vaccinated can win vouchers worth 500 euros, said Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) on Thursday before the start of the National Council session, at which the controversial mandatory vaccination law is to be voted on . The vouchers should be redeemable at Austrian companies.
According to Nehammer, an incentive package with a total volume of up to 1.4 billion euros was put together. Municipalities with a vaccination rate of 80 percent should also receive financial grants. “The vaccination rate is not high enough,” said the conservative politician. “Duty is one thing, reward and incentive another.”
According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, 6.4 million people (71.8 percent of the total population) currently have a valid vaccination certificate. The law is polarizing in the country with almost nine million inhabitants. New infections jumped to a record 27,677 cases the previous day. Despite the high incidence of infection, the situation in the hospitals is largely stable. Nehammer conceded that the Omikron variant should be evaluated differently than the Delta variant. Nevertheless, the government wants to be the first country in the EU to introduce general vaccination requirements for adults over the age of 18 from February.
The law on compulsory vaccination will be voted on in parliament today (Thursday). Pregnant women and people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and those who have recovered are exempt from the law for six months. There should be controls from mid-March. Those who refuse to vaccinate face penalties of between 600 and up to 3600 euros. The decision is considered a mere formality, since a simple majority of the governing parties ÖVP and Greens is sufficient. But there is also approval from the majority of the opposition – the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos. Only the right-wing populist FPÖ rejects compulsory vaccination.