On February 1st, the already comparatively low vaccination rate in Upper Austria could drop again by a few percent. The reason for this is a new regulation by the Ministry of Health. As reported, the Green Passport should only be valid for 180 days after the first series of vaccinations (two vaccinations or one vaccination for those who have recovered). However, the booster vaccination should remain valid for 270 days as before. In Upper Austria, according to the data from Friday, January 14th, 71,536 people would no longer be considered fully immunized in one fell swoop. The last vaccination dose was at least 180 days ago, but they still have a valid vaccination certificate for 270 days, the state’s crisis team informed the OÖ Nachrichten on request. The state of Upper Austria is “constantly working on using various campaigns and measures to increase the willingness to vaccinate or to increase participation in the booster vaccination,” according to the crisis team. 373,000 people who have booked a vaccination appointment on the country’s registration platform in the past few months “received an information email in the past few days with the request to protect themselves and others from a serious course by taking another dose of vaccination”.
A separate campaign to draw attention to the shortened validity of the green passport is only planned “as soon as the relevant federal ordinance is available,” said the crisis team.
In the past few weeks, the number of expired vaccination certificates in Upper Austria has steadily increased. As of yesterday, 4934 compatriots failed to get a booster vaccination in time and have already lost their status as fully immunized. (whale/hip)
Source: Nachrichten
