The first country in the European Union to announce the mandatory vaccine against Covid-19, Austria proposed this Sunday (16) to launch the program in stages, starting on February 1, and to establish the minimum age of 18 years.
It is a retreat by the Conservative government from its earlier idea that the vaccine would be mandatory for all people aged 14 and over, in an attempt to minimize opposition to the project. Parliament is expected to vote on the plan this week.
According to the proposal detailed by Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first phase of mandatory vaccination runs until mid-March and will give Austrians one more chance to receive the immunization without paying a fine, if they are caught by the inspectors.
Those who are not vaccinated will receive reminders and, in a third phase, invitations to attend vaccination appointments that will incur penalties if the person is absent.
Fines range from 600 euros (R$3,790) to 3,600 euros (R$22,745), but there will be no prison sentence, officials said.
“At best, we won’t even need this third phase,” Nehammer, fresh out of quarantine after contracting Covid, told a press conference in Vienna a day after thousands took part in a protest against the plan.
“This is not a fight between vaccinated and unvaccinated,” he added.
Nehammer said the government needs to implement the measure to allow people to move freely, stressing the need to avoid further lockdowns.
Almost 72% of Austria’s population has a valid vaccination certificate, but many Austrians are skeptical of vaccines, a view encouraged by the far-right Freedom Party, the third largest in parliament.
Critics of the mandatory vaccine say that, in addition to violating personal freedoms, it does not prevent viral transmission or reinfection, and that the now dominant omicron variant appears to be milder, causing less serious illness, than earlier ones.
As the number of cases hit records in Austria late last year, the government announced a fourth nationwide lockdown and said it would make vaccination mandatory.
Exceptions apply to people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons or who are pregnant.
Austrian health authorities have reported more than 1.4 million infections and nearly 14,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
The government wants to avoid the reintroduction of a lockdown like the one the country experienced last month, the fourth of the pandemic.
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