Austrian lawmakers passed Europe's first near-universal coronaviruses vaccine mandate Thursday, which will subject the country's unvaccinated adults to fines as early as March, a strict measure as Austria contends with spiking numbers of Covid-19 cases.
A man gets his second Covid-19 vaccine shot at a clinic in Austria.
The images are from the same company.
There are exceptions for pregnant women, people who can't take the vaccines due to a medical condition, and people who recovered from Covid-19 less than six months ago.
Unvaccinated residents who don't comply with multiple government reminders to get the shot could face an initial fine of up to 600 euros.
The vaccine lottery was introduced in Austria in order to get unvaccinated Austrians to take the vaccine. One study found that the vaccine lottery had no effect on vaccination rates.
It was 74%. Oxford University's Our World In Data project has compiled data on the percentage of Austrians who are at least partially vaccination against Covid-19. Austria beats Hungary and the Czech Republic, but trails other European countries like Portugal, Italy and France.
Austria is grappling with record numbers of new Covid-19 cases due to the omicron variant of the coronaviruses. The country was still fighting infections when Austria began to mandate vaccines. The Chancellor said that the vaccine rates weren't climbing quickly enough to contain the virus. Unvaccinated people have been the focus of Austria's Covid-19 efforts in the past. Two months ago, the country responded to a rise in infections by instituting a lockdown for unvaccinated residents ages 12 and up, barring them from leaving their homes for nonessential reasons, though it later expanded the temporary lockdown to all residents regardless of vaccine status. According to Our World In Data, the country's vaccination rate increased during that time.
It's called Tangent.
Austria is the first country in Europe to require all adults to have a vaccine, but other countries have a different approach. Greece and Italy made vaccines mandatory for residents 50 and older, with both countries threatening fines for noncompliance. The Czech Republic had planned to require vaccines for people over the age of 60, but a new government scrapped the idea last month. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said it was time for European Union member states to think about mandatory vaccinations.
Surprising fact.
Unvaccinated residents in Indonesia will be fined and lose public assistance if they don't get their vaccine. The tiny Pacific island chain of Micronesia is one of the countries where vaccines are mandatory.
Austria is not the only country making covid-19 vaccine compulsory for everyone.
Live updates on the coronaviruses.
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