Central Europe pushes for the population to be vaccinated against a new wave of COVID-19

Central and Eastern Europe now has some of the highest numbers of infections, hospitalizations and mortality from covid, as well as the lowest for immunization in the EU, a situation in which several governments apply measures and restrictions to those who are not vaccinated to convince them to do so.

From the Czech Republic to Bulgaria and from Austria to Romania, absolute maximums have been reached in recent days since the pandemic began and in some countries the hospital system is, once again, on the verge of collapse.

Health authorities in countries such as Austria and the Czech Republic insist that the vast majority of those newly infected and hospitalized are not vaccinated.

Confinement for the unvaccinated

In Austria, the Executive’s reaction to the uncontrolled outbreak of cases and hospitalizations, although not yet deaths, focuses on pressing for the 35% of the population that has not been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible.

The Austrian Government today expressed its intention to approve this Sunday a confinement for those who are not vaccinated or have not had the disease, a measure that it wants to negotiate first with the nine federal states of the country.

Two of them, Upper Austria and Salzburg, which have the highest contagion levels and the lowest vaccination levels, will apply this confinement already from Monday, although it has not yet been clarified how it will be applied or how it will be controlled.

The confinement in Austria did not mean an absolute confinement in the first wave, since, apart from going to work or doing the shopping, it was also allowed to go for a walk to take care of mental health.

Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg insisted today that “the majority of the population that has been protected” does not have to lose freedom to protect those who have not been vaccinated.

Since Monday, the prohibition of those not vaccinated or healed from accessing leisure and gastronomy venues, beauty centers or events with more than 25 people, has already been applied throughout the country.

To the mixture of distrust towards vaccines, present in other countries of the region, is added in Austria the anti-vaccination campaign of the ultra-nationalist party FPÖ, with 18% of the intention to vote.

This formation, which governs in coalition with the conservatives in Upper Austria, sends messages such as that with a combination of vitamins, paracetamol and ibuprofen, covid can be fought.

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Shocking photos

In the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Health has launched a harsh media campaign in which it shows photos of real patients in critical condition and of corpses being put in coffins, under labels such as “he thought he still had time” or “she did not. believe in vaccines. “

“We wanted to show the reality of what is happening in hospitals to those who are sitting in their comfort zones and do not see that we are in the middle of the worst health crisis in more than a century”, has argued Adam Vojtech, Minister of Health , in the face of criticism and demands that the campaign be withdrawn.

Only 57.5% of the total population of the Czech Republic is fully immunized against COVID-19.

Without vaccination there is no salary

In Slovakia, the pressure to increase the level of vaccination, currently at 42%, has reached the Executive to announce that workers who are not vaccinated, have not had the disease or do not have a recent test will stop receiving their salary.

In other countries where infection levels have peaked in recent days, such as Croatia and Bulgaria, the authorities are still reluctant to take more drastic measures.

In Bulgaria, which has the highest death rate from COVID-19 in the EU and which this weekend holds legislative and presidential elections, recourse to confinement has been ruled out.

Since last October 21, the COVID certificate is required, of being vaccinated, healed or having a recent negative test, to access gastronomy or culture venues.

Since then, the rate of vaccination has accelerated, but it remains below 23% of the total population.

Curfew in Romania

In Romania, the second EU country with the lowest rate of vaccinated and the second also with the highest mortality, since October 25, unvaccinated people have been prohibited from consuming in bars and restaurants and cannot leave their homes between ten o’clock in the morning. night and five in the morning the next day.

That restriction triggered the vaccination rate to 100,000 people a day at the end of October, a figure that has dropped to 25,000 in recent days.

To speed up immunization again, the Romanian government hopes that Parliament will pass a law in the coming days that would oblige those who work in public institutions or in private companies with more than 50 face-to-face employees to be vaccinated.

However, the number of daily infections has fallen from the maximum of 19,000 registered on October 19 to 4,800 in the last 24 hours. (I)