– I think it is idiotic that I have to get vaccinated, but I have to, Yildrim says to TV 2.
There is a queue outside the vaccine bus at Vienna’s main railway station. The wind is blowing sour on the first day of the shutdown in Austria. Some people use the day to get a free vaccine without prior appointment.
One of them is real estate agent and financial advisor Deniz Yildrim. The 26-year-old does it in no way voluntarily.
– Are you not afraid to get the corona?
– I had corona last month, without my course of the disease being serious. Like a normal flu, and who is afraid of it?
Think it’s coercion
Deniz gets vaccinated because he has to. The job as a real estate agent and financial advisor requires it. But he is concerned that people who have been vaccinated will also be infected.
High levels of infection and death have led to the closure of Austria, probably for twenty days. Despite many vaccinations in recent days, only 66 percent have been vaccinated.
«Hard» lockdown
Austria was the first country in Europe to introduce a ban on the unvaccinated. It is the first country to introduce a new “hard” shutdown, and the very first EU country to start vaccination on 1 February 2022.
Denis makes no secret of the fact that it is the upcoming vaccination obligation that makes him now get vaccinated.
– Do you feel that it is a compulsion?
– Of course. They say it is not coercion, but it is coercion.
TV 2 is not allowed to film or take pictures of the vaccination inside the bus. But Deniz comes out of the bus smiling and says “Pfizer!”.
Now he is planning both a second and third dose, to get the corona pass 2G. Only fully vaccinated people with 2G passes can go to restaurants, bars and cinemas, among other places, when the closure is over.
The closure is expected to last until December 13.
Several countries are discussing
Mandatory vaccination is also being discussed in Germany due to low vaccine coverage and record high infection rates. The German Minister of Health goes a long way when he tries to persuade people to get vaccinated.
After the winter, almost everyone in Germany has either been vaccinated, recovered from a corona or died. Some say it is cynical to say, but it is true, says Minister of Health Hens Spahn.
Schools are kept open
In the streets of Vienna, there were surprisingly many people on the first day of the shutdown. All shops, except pharmacies, grocery stores and gas stations are closed. People should work from home, unless they have a socially critical job.
Schools are kept open, but parents can decide for themselves whether their children should go to school or not. Absence is not recorded, and students are offered home schooling.
On the first day of the closure, national figures show that around three out of four students were at school.