Tue 01 February 2022:
Austria is set this week to become the first country in Europe to introduce a national COVID-19 vaccine mandate for adults.
All citizens aged 18 and over will need to be fully vaccinated against the virus or face fines of up to €3,600.
They will have until 15 March to comply with the new legislation which is set to be approved from 3 February, according to the health ministry.
Pregnant women and people who for medical reasons can’t be vaccinated will be exempted, as will people who have recovered from infection in the past six months.
The EU member state also plans to loosen coronavirus restrictions, with restaurants allowed to remain open until midnight on Saturday.
Meanwhile, unvaccinated citizens will no longer be barred from entering shops and restaurants in a phasing out of anti-COVID measures later this month.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer also announced on Saturday that lockdown restrictions for vaccinated people, which have been in place since November, will end on Monday.
The changes come despite record-high new infection numbers in recent days, fuelled by the omicron variant. But Nehammer said the low rate of hospitalisations means additional steps forward are possible.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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