COVID-19 vaccination obligation in Austria

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First page of the current draft law of December 9, 2021 for compulsory vaccination in Austria

The COVID -19 vaccination requirement in Austria is based on a federal law that has not yet come into force, obliging all persons living in Austria from the age of 18 to be vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus . The federal law on compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 (COVID-19 vaccination law - COVID-19-IG) was passed by the National Council on January 20, 2022 with a clear majority. The vaccination requirement is to be introduced in three phases from February 1, 2022.

procedure

stage 1

Phase 1 is to apply from the entry into force of the law until March 15, 2022. In this phase, all households in Austria receive information about compulsory vaccination in the form of direct mail. Vaccination should be taken at this stage.

stage 2

Until the "reminder dates" have been set, compliance with the vaccination requirement will be checked across the board by organs of the public security service, including as part of the usual traffic controls. In the event of a violation, the district administration authority will be notified, which will set a deadline for submitting proof of vaccination or a reason for an exception. If you don't comply, you commit an administrative offense and, according to the draft law, can be punished with an administrative fine of up to 600 euros .

stage 3

After a data overlap between the Central Register of Residents and the Epidemiological Reporting System as well as the Central Vaccination Register , all unvaccinated persons are to be asked by letter to be vaccinated or to have an authorized doctor enter an exception reason on "reminder dates" set by ordinance from March 15th. There should be 2 “vaccination dates” per year. If there is no entry of a vaccination or an exception reason in the central vaccination register at this point in time, criminal proceedings will be initiated by the responsible district administrative authority. The criminal proceedings are discontinued if proof of vaccination or proof of an exceptional reason can be submitted to the district administrative authority within 2 weeks of the issuance of the penal order.

Other regulations

A maximum of four criminal proceedings per year may be conducted against one person. In the abbreviated procedure , the fine is up to 600 euros. If payment is refused or an objection is raised, there will be due process in which the penalty can be up to 3,600 euros. In the event of refusal to pay, as in normal proceedings, an execution (judicial attachment) should be carried out by the bailiff . The law is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2024. The fine will not be converted into imprisonment even if the fine is uncollectible.

Pregnant women , those who have recovered for 180 days after a positive PCR test and people who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons are exempt from the obligation .

background

For a long time, the government ruled out compulsory vaccination . On November 19, 2021, the then Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced that compulsory vaccination would be introduced after all. Despite all the persuasion and campaigns, too few people have been vaccinated, said Schallenberg. At that time, there was only a general obligation to vaccinate in a few countries around the world. These include Turkmenistan and Tajikistan , as well as the Vatican . Several countries and areas have made corona vaccination compulsory only for certain population or professional groups.

On January 7, ELGA GmbH announced that it would not be able to provide the necessary data comparison for comprehensive tracking until April.

The law was passed in the National Council on January 20, 2022 .

reception

According to a survey by pollster Peter Hajek for ATV on December 5, 2021, 53 percent of the population were in favor of compulsory vaccination. 32 percent were strictly against it and 13 percent were undecided. There are significant differences between voter groups. The majority of ÖVP and SPÖ voters were in favor, while most FPÖ voters were against. In a profil survey on January 15, 2022, 51% of those questioned spoke out against mandatory vaccination from February.

The FPÖ federal party chairman Herbert Kickl reacted to the announcement of compulsory vaccination on November 19, 2021 with the statement that Austria was “as of today a dictatorship ”.

demonstrations

Demonstration against compulsory vaccination and anti-corona measures on November 20, 2021 in Vienna with around 40,000 participants

Since the announcement there have been protests in all federal states . The FPÖ has also called for demonstrations. The Interior Minister at the time, Karl Nehammer , warned of an “increasing radicalization of the opponents of the measures”. Some demonstrators compared the then Chancellor Schallenberg with the concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele and wore Jewish stars with the inscription "unvaccinated". Some journalists were insulted and attacked. While the vast majority of participants were peaceful, there were also isolated attacks on police officers.

social debate

Basically, compulsory vaccination represents an encroachment on the right to physical integrity (Art. 3 of the European Fundamental Rights ). However, according to several rulings by the European Court of Human Rights , a sufficiently justified vaccination requirement does not contradict the European Convention on Human Rights . Vaccination against smallpox had been compulsory in Austria since 1939 , which was abolished when the disease was eradicated in 1981.

For supporters of compulsory vaccination, the encroachment on fundamental rights is justifiable, since this would protect public health, i.e. the same fundamental right. Unvaccinated people would put a disproportionate burden on intensive care units and hospitals and thus deprive others of medical treatment. Although there would be a "right to illness", according to which people should not be forced to undergo treatment for their own health, the freedom of the individual ends where others are endangered. This applies in particular to groups of people who cannot be vaccinated due to previous illnesses and who therefore have to be protected by the general public.

With a higher vaccination rate, lockdowns and the associated economic and social damage could be avoided, and a lower incidence of infection would also make it more difficult for more dangerous virus mutations to develop.

However, a prerequisite for compulsory vaccination is a high level of safety of the approved SARS-CoV-2 vaccines . The risk of serious side effects from the vaccination is lower than the consequences of a serious course of the disease. The criticism of vaccination opponents that there is no data on possible long-term side effects of the vaccination is countered by experts that vaccination side effects - if at all - occur only a short time after the vaccination. It is impossible that years after the vaccination, side effects would suddenly become noticeable. This applies to vaccines in general.

In order for a vaccination requirement to be legally enforceable, it must be proportionate, i.e. there must be no more lenient means that serve the same purpose. The obligation to vaccinate thus represents an ultima ratio measure that could be unconstitutional.

Critics of mandatory vaccination see regular corona tests as an equivalent measure for fighting the pandemic, which interferes less with fundamental rights. A tested unvaccinated person is less dangerous than a potentially infected, untested vaccinated person. However, the reliability of the antigen rapid tests is limited. The sensitivity in symptom-free people is only 58%, so many infected people are not discovered at all. In the case of a false-negative test, vaccination still protects against infection and severe courses. In addition , vaccinated people are less strong and contagious for less time .

On the other hand, it is also necessary for proportionality that compulsory vaccination fulfills its purpose at all. The vaccination does not bring sterile immunity, even vaccinated people could become infected and pass on the virus ( vaccination breakthroughs ).

Furthermore, there are doubts about the practical implementation. Vaccination opponents could continue to refuse vaccination, face fines and initiate legal proceedings that could overwhelm the authorities. Critics of compulsory vaccination fear that this would only trigger more resistance and would not convince hesitant people.

Voting behavior in the National Council

In the case of the two governing parties ( ÖVP , The Greens ), the mandataries present voted unanimously for compulsory vaccination. At the SPÖ , the mandataries present voted for compulsory vaccination, with the exception of Josef Muchitsch . At NEOS , 11 out of 15 MEPs voted in favor of compulsory vaccination, while Stephanie Krisper , Fiona Fiedler , Johannes Margreiter and Gerald Loacker voted against . The FPÖ voted unanimously against compulsory vaccination. Free MP Philippa Strache voted in favor of the bill.

Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic (Greens), Gudrun Kugler (ÖVP), Rudolf Silvan and Petra Vorderwinkler (both SPÖ) stayed away from the meeting . A total of 137 of the 170 MPs present (out of a total of 183 ) voted in favor of the draft.

web links

itemizations

  1. ↑ faz.net: This is how Austria wants to enforce compulsory vaccination. January 16, 2022, retrieved January 16, 2022 .
  2. ↑ LIVE vaccination law passed with a large majority in the National Council , STANDARD January 20, 2022
  3. ↑ Andreas Mihm, Vienna: From February: Austria introduces compulsory vaccination from the age of 14 . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed 15 December 2021]).
  4. ↑ a b ORF at/Agenturen red: High penalties: Draft on compulsory vaccination presented. 9 December 2021, retrieved 15 December 2021 .
  5. ↑ All unvaccinated people in Austria now receive a letter with a vaccination appointment. OE24, December 2, 2021, retrieved December 17, 2021 .
  6. ↑ nico: compulsory vaccination - that happens to everyone who refuses . In: Today.at . ( heute.at [accessed December 17, 2021]).
  7. ↑ Daniel Bischof: compulsory vaccination - stab or fine. Wiener Zeitung, November 19, 2021, accessed December 16, 2021 .
  8. ↑ Deutscher Ärzteverlag GmbH, editors of Deutsches Ärzteblatt: Lockdown and compulsory vaccination in Austria. November 19, 2021, retrieved December 16, 2021 .
  9. ↑ Where compulsory vaccination is already a reality. OÖ Nachrichten, November 19, 2021, retrieved December 16, 2021 .
  10. ↑ ORF at/Agentur red: Technical implementation: compulsory vaccination for ELGA only possible from April. January 7, 2022, retrieved January 21, 2022 .
  11. ↑ Salzburger Nachrichten: Austrians majority for compulsory vaccination. December 5, 2021, retrieved December 17, 2021 .
  12. ↑ thomas.hoisl: Survey: Narrow majority against compulsory vaccination from February. January 15, 2022, retrieved January 21, 2022 .
  13. ↑ Intensive care physicians welcome lockdown, Kickl locates "dictatorship". In: The Press . 19 November 2021, retrieved 18 January 2022 .
  14. ↑ Demos against compulsory vaccination throughout Austria. KURIER, December 1, 2021, retrieved December 17, 2021 .
  15. ↑ tagesschau.de: Corona opponents: Austria's interior minister warns of radicalization. 19 November 2021, retrieved 17 December 2021 .
  16. ↑ Vienna ORF at red: Demos: 621 ads, five officers injured. December 5, 2021, retrieved December 17, 2021 .
  17. ↑ a b c d e f Ulrich Körtner : What speaks for a general obligation to vaccinate. In: science.orf.at . Österreichischer Rundfunk , November 24, 2021, retrieved December 17, 2021 .
  18. ↑ [1]
  19. ↑ Compulsory vaccination is nothing new. In: vorarlberg.orf.at . Österreichischer Rundfunk , November 20, 2021, retrieved December 17, 2021 .
  20. ↑ a b c d Elisabeth Prechtl, Robert Stammler: Legal arguments for and against compulsory vaccination. In: Upper Austrian News . 4 December 2021, retrieved 17 December 2021 .
  21. ↑ Oliver Klein, Katja Belousova: Vaccines: why there are no long-term side effects. In: Panorama . ZDF , October 20, 2021, retrieved December 17, 2021 .
  22. ↑ Jana Meixner: How reliable are rapid corona antigen tests? In: Medicine transparent . April 20, 2021, accessed January 18, 2022 (German).
  23. ↑ Magdalena Ennemoser: The obligation to vaccinate also causes skepticism among experts. In: Tiroler Tageszeitung . December 13, 2021, retrieved December 17, 2021 .
  24. ↑ Philippa Strache for compulsory vaccination, four NEOS and one SPÖ mandater against. Retrieved January 20, 2022 .
  25. ↑ Theo Anders, Vanessa Gaigg, Jan Michael Marchart, Gabriele Scherndl: Large majority and loud protests: compulsory vaccination is a done deal. In: DerStandard.at . 20 January 2022, retrieved 20 January 2022 .