To slow the spread of the virus and increase the vaccination rate of its population (currently 65%)Austria has brought out the heavy arsenal, becoming the first country in the European Union to take these measures.
Meanwhile, the city of Vienna decided to start vaccinating children between the ages of 5 and 11, despite the fact that the European regulator has not yet given its endorsement for the use of the Pfizer / BioNTech immunizer in people of that age group.
The measure, on this Monday, a holiday for schoolchildren in the capital, has triumphed. More than 10,000 appointments have been booked, said Peter Hacker, municipal health deputy.
“We feel calmer,” says Gerald Schwarzl, 41, with his two sons, one of them, Theo, who is five years old. “We think they will be protected in the same way that they have been with the other vaccines.”
At the moment, 200 minors can be vaccinated per day.
Wearing colored face masks, the first children to be punctured were a bit intimidated by the presence of the press.
Like eight-year-old Pia, in a black dress and blonde hair, who says she was “a little” scared but is very happy to get her “Ninja pass”, the certificate they receive.
Lockdown
And while the youngest get their injection in the capital, Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, conservative, confined all unimmunized people as of Monday after having contracted the covid or not yet vaccinated.
“Partially depriving a part of the population of liberty is not something we like,” Chancellor Schallenberg told AFP on Monday.
But the measure “is already bearing fruit”he stated, citing “the massive increase in enrollment in vaccination centers.”
According to official statistics, almost half a million people received a dose of the covid-19 vaccine last week, of which 128,813 received a first dose.
The “situation is serious,” warned the head of government on Sunday before the brutal increase in new cases, which reaches its highest levels since the beginning of the pandemic: 12,000 per day on average in this country of 8.9 million population.
Europe is facing a new wave of infections and several countries began to reimpose restrictions, such as the Netherlands and Norway.
But only Austria has ordered confinement for the unvaccinated, after having excluded them from restaurants, hotels and hairdressers.
Some experts are however skeptical of the measures, even if the government has announced controls and sanctions.
Others, like specialist Bernd-Christian Funk, wonder if confining just a part of the population is in accordance with the Constitution.
On Sunday, several hundred people demonstrated in front of the chancellery.
“It’s discrimination outright,” complained Sabine, a 49-year-old energy advisor, who did not want to give her last name. “Of course, my life has been hindered, my freedom. It is not the right way to proceed.”
In the center of Vienna, the merchants consulted by the AFP in the Christmas market seem satisfied with the new measures, without fearing that the clientele will fall, when the end of the year festivities approach.
“We do what has to be done and we want everyone to feel safe,” explains Daniel Stocker, responsible for the market, located in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and that last year had to be canceled due to the pandemic.
“People come, show their health passport and identity document, there is no problem. Traders are satisfied and customers are satisfied,” he says.
But some Viennese doubt that confinement of the unvaccinated is enough.
It’s a “totally reasonable move but it’s a bit late,” according to Rudolf, an architect who declined to give his identity. “I’m afraid this doesn’t end here.”
Source From: Ambito
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