Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced the measures on Friday morning. Firstly, the whole country will go into lockdown from Monday, until a maximum of 13 December for vaccinated and cured people. For the time being, unvaccinated people must also remain indoors. From 1 February at the latest, Austria will be the first EU country to make vaccination mandatory.
“We are convinced that we can only put the pandemic behind us if enough people get vaccinated,” Schallenberg said. ‘We can only achieve that with compulsory vaccination.’
From Monday, Austrians will have to work from home if they can, and will only be allowed to leave their home for shopping, exercise, work or a doctor’s visit. Catering and non-essential shops are closing their doors. Supermarkets, drugstores, pharmacies, schools and childcare locations may remain open.
Lockdown unvaccinated
Austria is suffering heavily from the fourth wave of the corona pandemic. The seven-day average number of infections per 100 thousand inhabitants is now 1050, compared to 751 in the Netherlands. In the states of Salzburg and Upper Austria, which already went into lockdown on Thursday, the infection number is even around 1,700. The intensive care units are filling up quickly there.
Last Monday, Austria already stated a lockdown, specifically for unvaccinated. They are no longer allowed on the street without a valid reason. Austria also went further with this than any other European country, despite resistance from the right-wing radical FPÖ, among others. The effect was immediately visible: 6.05 doses of vaccine were administered per 100 inhabitants in the past seven days, ten times as much as in the Netherlands.
Austria will create legislation for compulsory vaccination in the coming months. Chancellor Schallenberg’s spokesperson does not want to prejudge the precise content, nor the enforcement. “The law will be fully consistent with our constitution. In any case, we want to impose administrative fines.’
Asked whether the government would rule out more far-reaching measures, such as a workplace ban for unvaccinated people, the spokesman replied: “I can only repeat that the details are being worked out.”
human rights
According to Karl Stöger, professor of Medical Law at the University of Vienna, the measure is legally defensible. ‘An obligation to vaccinate clearly violates the right to physical integrity enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. But that can be justified in the interest of public health, provided the measure is proportional. Most lawyers think it is, since vaccinations seem to be the only way to prevent overloading the health system.’
Stöger points to a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights from April. The judge ruled against a group of Czech parents who opposed the compulsory vaccinations of their children in that country. ‘That concerned childhood diseases such as measles and polio, against which vaccines have been known for decades, but it sets a precedent. After nearly eight billion Covid19 vaccination doses worldwide, the safety and efficacy is well documented, even though the drug is only a few months old.’
Forced vaccination refusals to undergo a shot is disproportionate according to Austrian legal scholars and therefore not permitted. Keeping unvaccinated people from the workplace is possible, with new legislation. But the government can also exert a lot of pressure with administrative fines, says emeritus professor Heinz Mayer. ‘That can be repeated fines, which are getting higher and higher. From my understanding, that’s the direction in which people think.’
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