Austria’s chancellor said it is only days away from ordering millions of unvaccinated people to stay at home.
The rare move shows the increasing worry and exasperation of European leaders towards populations that have chosen not to receive their Covid vaccines.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said that Austria’s vaccination rate was “shamefully low,” despite having enough vaccines available. Schallenberg warned that the new restrictions will make the winter “uncomfortable for the unvaccinated,” and that the lockdown may come faster than people realize.
The country agreed upon a plan in September to lock down unvaccinated Austrians once 30 percent of intensive-care beds at hospitals were occupied by Covid patients. Currently, 21 percent of the beds are occupied by Covid patients, following a surge in infections.
In Austria, unvaccinated people are currently excluded from entertainment venues, restaurants, hairdressers, and other public venues. The new measures would make the restrictions even stricter. Unvaccinated people will be forced to stay home except for some limited exceptions. The rules will be enforced by officers conducting spot checks in public.
Exceptions for staying at home will only include work, shopping for essentials, and mildly stretching one’s legs, making the rules the same as they were in the first lockdowns in 2020.
Following the Chancellor’s announcement, the governor of the province of Upper Austria said that he will be locking down the unvaccinated in his province from Monday, which would make it the first part of the country to go ahead with the restrictions.
Sixty five percent of the Austrian population is fully vaccinated, which makes it one of the lower rates within the European Union.
European governments are growing frustrated with unvaccinated populations, as another wave of Covid comes across Europe. Rates are varied, but generally get steadily lower towards the east of Europe versus the west.
For the second consecutive week, Europe was the only region in the world where cases and deaths were found to be climbing.
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