Austria ‘forced’ to go for vaccine mandate

Austria is going back into lockdown to head off a fourth wave of Covid-19.

Vaccinations will also be made mandatory on February 1.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said the lockdown will start on Monday and initially last for 10 days.

The move came as neighbouring Germany entered a “state of emergency” over their own surging cases.

As part of Austria’s lockdown most stores will close, and cultural events will be cancelled.

Kindergartens and schools would remain open for those who needed to go there but all parents have been asked to keep their children at home.

Austria had initially introduced a national lockdown only for the unvaccinated, but as virus cases continued to rocket the government said it had no choice but to extend it to everyone.

“This is very painful,” Mr Schallenberg said.

The national lockdown will be assessed after 10 days and if cases have not gone down sufficiently, it can be extended to a maximum of 20 days.

Austria, a country of 8.9 million, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe, only 65.7% are fully vaccinated.

Despite all the persuasion and campaigns, too few people have decided to get vaccinated, Mr Schallenberg said, leaving the country no other choice but to introduce mandatory vaccinations in February.

“We do not want a fifth wave,” Mr Schallenberg said.

“Nor do we want a sixth or seventh wave.”

The chancellor said the details would be finalised in the coming weeks but those who continued to refuse to get vaccinated would have to expect to get fined.