The Intensive Care Units in Austria have been under the greatest burden since the beginning of the pandemic, with hospitals already “sorting” patients who will be treated in the ICU. In the meantime, the government, in view of the imposition of the vaccination obligation from February 1, is trying to form a political consensus, with an “alliance of constructive forces”.
“Intensive Care Units have never been as crowded since the beginning of the pandemic as they are today. “Clinics are already being challenged to make difficult decisions – and the situation will continue to worsen,” Health Minister Wolfgang Mukstein told parliament, adding that screening was not just for patients in a less serious condition but also for cancer patients. In some cases, it must be decided which patient has a better chance of survival, the minister admitted.
Mr Muckstein also noted that the general lockdown that has been in place for more than a week and will last until December 12 is already yielding results, but the number of cases remains at a very high level and the situation in hospitals is “dramatic”.
In view of the general vaccination obligation from February, the Austrian government is trying to ensure the maximum possible acceptance of the measure by the parties. In this context, members of the center-right-Green government met with experts, but also with the leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the Liberal Party Neos, in order to exchange views on the course of the pandemic and the mandatory vaccination.
The far-right FPÖ leader Herbert Hickle was absent from the meeting, who had not even been invited due to the party’s “disastrous approach” to the vaccination issue, Mr Mukstein explained.
Constitution Secretary Caroline Edstadler acknowledged that “not everything went perfectly in the past” and called on all skeptics to reconsider their stance, assuring them that he did not consider them all far-right. “The enemy is the virus, not the unvaccinated,” he said.
According to the government’s plan, the obligation to vaccinate will apply to all people over the age of 12, with the exception of pregnant women and those who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated. The fine for violators amounts to 3,600 euros per vaccination appointment. If someone ignores both appointments that will be made by the competent services, he is punished with a fine of 7,200 euros. The government plan is also expected to regulate the extent to which patients are compared to those who have been vaccinated.
According to virologist Dorothy von Laer, the restrictions imposed so far have not had much effect on the mood of the unvaccinated. “There is no indication in either Austria or Germany that those who remain unvaccinated will be vaccinated if they are not forced to,” he told German public television channel ZDF. She believes that only the general lockdown can have an immediate effect in terms of the number of cases and estimates that imposing it for three weeks would help Germany to control the increase in cases.
In Austria, however, the first effects of the lockdown on the labor market are already visible. At the end of November the unemployed were 363,494, 22,352 more than in October.
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