According to the latest reports, Covid-19 vaccination will become mandatory for all adults in Austria from Saturday which will, in turn, make it the first European Union country to introduce such a sweeping mandate.
Austria’s mandate was approved by the upper house of parliament
Austria’s planned Covid-19 vaccine mandate was granted approval by the upper house of parliament on Thursday evening, clearing one of the final hurdles before it can go into effect.
Following a vote in the lower chamber of parliament on January 20, the chamber voted 47 to 12 in favour of the mandate.
Except for pregnant women and those with medical exemptions, the mandate will apply to all adults in the Alpine region.
Police will begin checking people’s vaccination status during routine checks from mid-March; those who cannot provide proof of vaccination will be asked to do so in writing and fined up to 600 euros ($676) if they do not.
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The announcement comes as Austria prepares to relax many of its pandemic-related restrictions. Throughout February, the country will relax restrictions on unvaccinated people entering stores, restaurants, and other public places where they have been effectively barred since November.
It has also been reported that not all states will follow the national government’s lead, however: Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig officially confirmed on Thursday that the capital will continue to require evidence of vaccination or recovery to gain access to restaurants.
The country has so far reported almost 2 million Covid-19 cases whose population consists of about 9 million people, as stated by the Austrian Interior Ministry.
Omicron has greatly affected the country, with the daily infections hovering around 30,000 cases in the past two weeks.
According to official data, 75.7 percent of Austrians had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of date.
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(This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed, agencies. Raavi Media accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data of the text. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.)