Europe has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. Austria has ordered a lockdown for any residents who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine. The lockdown affects about 2 million people in the Alpine country of 8.9 million, the APA news agency reported. It doesn’t apply to children under 12 because they cannot yet officially get vaccinated.
The lockdown will initially last for 10 days and police will go on patrol to check people outside to make sure they are vaccinated, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said, adding that additional forces will be assigned to the patrols.
Unvaccinated people can be fined up to 1,450 euros ($1,660) if they violate the lockdown.
“It’s our job as the government of Austria to protect the people,” Schallenberg told reporters in Vienna on Sunday. “Therefore we decided that starting Monday (November 21, 2021) … there will be a lockdown for the unvaccinated.”
Austria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe: shamefully, only around 65% of the total population is fully vaccinated. The United States only has 58% of the population vaccinated. In recent weeks, Austria has faced a worrying rise in infections. Authorities reported 11,552 new cases on Sunday; a week ago there were 8,554 new daily infections. The United States had over 23,000 new cases on the same day and the cases are rising here as well.
There was a last-minute rush at vaccination centers in Upper Austria on the eve of the new restrictions.
But critics have questioned whether the move is constitutional. The far-right Freedom Party has said it will create a group of second-class citizens.