VIENNA. While the ÖVP set up its government team and the party on Friday, another summit on mandatory vaccination took place.
Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) invited again to the Chancellery, but both members of the government were absent at the doorstep before the talks. The medical association had already spoken out in favor of a general vaccination requirement weeks ago.
Invited on Friday were, among others, the President of the Medical Association Thomas Szekeres, the President of the Disability Council Michael Svoboda, the representative of the Austrian Students’ Union (ÖH) and Ingrid Korosec, President of the Seniors’ Union, and Franz Lackner, Archbishop of Salzburg and Chairman of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference.
In particular in the care sector and in hospitals, he would like to have vaccinations from now on, Szekeres said before the meeting. However, he reckons that this will come at the same time as the general obligation in February, as there are “lead times”. “However, I would like to see all of us vaccinated earlier,” said the President of the Medical Association. As early as December, the number of people vaccinated, the first, second and third stitches, should increase. On Friday, more than six million people in Austria had a valid vaccination certificate. Szekeres spoke out in favor of “we step on the gas within the next two weeks”. Doctors in private practice play a major role here.
How the compulsory vaccination is legally structured is largely still open. It is intended for people aged 14 and over. Szekeres can “understand this age well”, although it “makes medical sense that children from the age of five should also be vaccinated”, as the corona vaccination is already approved for them.
The draft law is to be finalized over the weekend and will undergo at least a four-week review in the coming week. Administrative penalties are provided for violations of the obligation to vaccinate. “Penalties are justified, the amount of the penalty should be staggered socially,” demanded Szekeres. The current reshuffle of the government will hopefully not affect the corona policy, said the President of the Medical Association.
In any case, it is necessary to have vaccinations, as well as booster vaccinations, because protection is waning. Using Israel as an example, it was seen that if the third dose was quickly inoculated, the number of infections decreased. He would like that for Austria too, said Szekeres. “I cannot imagine that we will continue to have these lockdowns into next year,” stated the President of the Medical Association. These could be prevented by vaccination.
The discussions on Friday were the second in a large round this week. An internal exchange took place in the Ministry of Health in the past few days. The first round table took place on Tuesday, it remained without any substantive determinations.
Source From: Nachrichten
