Violations of the obligation should have been punished from mid-March, but on the recommendation of an expert commission, the obligation to vaccinate was suspended until June 1st. Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) already declared a few weeks ago that she does not expect a “focusing” before the summer.
The government justified the suspension of compulsory vaccination in March by saying that it would not be proportionate given the prevailing (omicron) variant of the coronavirus. The expert report stated that at that time the obligation to vaccinate could not have a significant impact on the burden on the medical infrastructure. In addition, the number of infections would decrease in the warmer months of the year, according to the panel of experts. At the same time, they warned that a new, possibly massive, corona wave was “very likely” to be expected in autumn.
In response to an APA request on Thursday, the Ministry of Health did not want to say anything about the further procedure in terms of compulsory vaccination, they did not want to anticipate the final report of the expert commission. After that, any suspension regulation would have to be decided in the main committee of the National Council.
Only for the elderly and healthcare professionals?
At the end of April, Constitutional Minister Edtstadler already assumed that the commission would recommend another suspension in its report at the end of May. She also expressed the hope that the government would never have to make compulsory vaccination operational.
There have been discussions among experts for some time about alternatives to a general obligation to vaccinate. Epidemiologist Eva Schernhammer, who is also a member of the expert commission, advocates compulsory vaccination in the medical field and in geriatric care. The head of the Bioethics Commission, Christiane Druml, calls for a focus on groups such as health professionals, people over 60 and high-risk patients of all ages. Virologist Dorothee von Laer has also suggested limiting compulsory vaccination to those over 60. Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) has so far refused to single out individual groups.
Source: Nachrichten
