Cooler, practical and sensible thinking has prevailed. Thank You, Austria.
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Austria’s health minister, Johannes Rauch, said he had seen the need for mandatory vaccinations when the Delta variant had dominated in the country.
“But Omicron has changed the rules”, the Green party politician said. Since infections with the now-dominant strain tended to be milder and vaccines appeared less effective at preventing infection, it had become harder to convince people to get their first jab.
“The vaccine mandate won’t convince anyone to get vaccinated”, he said, pointing to studies showing that those already sceptical of vaccines had not been swayed by the threat of fines.
The vaccine law originally foresaw that people over the age of 18 who declined to take a jab would face penalties of up to €3,600 (£3,000) unless they were pregnant or severely ill.
“The vaccine mandate and the debate around the vaccine mandate have opened up deep rifts in Austria’s society,” Rauch said. At a time in which the Ukraine war, rising household costs and the energy crisis were putting further strain on social cohesion “every millimetre [of] solidarity and togetherness” was required.