Austria will fine up to US $ 4,700 to those over 14 who do not get vaccinated

Those over 14 years old residing in Austria will be obliged from next February to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with fines of up to 3,600 euros (about US $ 4,070) for those who do not do so, the Austrian government reported today in Vienna.

The conservative-ecologist executive justified this measure as the only option to protect society and avoid continuous confinement against the pandemic.

Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein explained that once the four-week legal review period has passed, the plan is to debate and pass the law in Parliament to take effect in early February.

Vaccination appointments will be established every three months to which all unvaccinated citizens will be summoned.

Those who don’t will have to pay a fine of 600 euros (about $ 680).

If they refuse, a process would start that can end with a penalty of up to 3,600 euros, although the amount will be adjusted to the income level of the affected person.

The minister acknowledged that when he took office last April he did not think it would be necessary to impose mandatory vaccination because there would be enough people who would decide to be immunized.

However, the current complete vaccination rate -lower than 68% of the population- “is not sufficient“To protect society against COVID-19, added the minister.

Pregnant women will be exempt from the obligation, although the minister recommended that they be vaccinated, and those who cannot do so for health reasons, after certification by a doctor.

In this regard, the minister warned that physicians who issue false certificates may also be penalized with up to 3,600 euros.

In principle, the law will be in force until January 2024.

“You can’t go from lockdown to lockdown. We need the solidarity of the whole world to be able to face this enormous challenge”Declared the Minister for the Constitution, the conservative Karoline Edtstadler.

He assured that this measure is “the last resort“And something that nobody wanted to have to apply but also”the only way”To ensure the freedom demanded, precisely, by those who oppose the vaccine.

“I also ask those vaccinated to speak with those who have not taken that step, speak with those who think differentlyEdtstadler requested.

The measure also has the support of the social democratic and liberal opposition, and the opposition of the ultranationalists of the FPÖ.

The four parties that support this law have 151 of the 183 seats in Parliament.

The FPÖ, for its part, denounces the measure as dictatorial. This training has come to recommend the use of horse deworming products or ibuprofen as effective remedies against COVID-19.

The details of the mandatory vaccination law against COVID-19 are announced in the final stretch of the current lockdown that will end next Saturday at midnight.

Austria was one of the European countries most affected by the pandemic in November, with an incidence in seven days of more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Now, a few days after the reopening of non-essential activities, including hotels and restaurants in some regions, the incidence is found in 482 cases.