Styria, Austria – “Those willing to be vaccinated have more or less been vaccinated off,” sums up Wolfgang Wlattnig, deputy director of the provincial office in Styria. While there used to be 100,000 stings per week, this number has now dropped to half. What experts feared weeks ago has come to pass: “There is definitely no longer a shortage of vaccines, but a shortage of those willing to be vaccinated,” Wlattnig regrets.
Although 1.2 million Corona vaccinations have now been carried out in Styria, not all citizens are considered capable of being vaccinated; for example, the vaccines are only approved for people over the age of twelve. In addition, there are pregnant women or people who cannot be vaccinated against Covid-19 because of various illnesses. In terms of the total population, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the vaccination rate: 45 percent of Styrians are fully immunized, 58 percent have a partial vaccination. The rate is even lower among young adults, Wlattnig calculates: Only 36 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds have had their first vaccination.
Weekend balance sheet
Wlattnig emphasizes that incentives and “low-threshold offers” are now needed. The state is therefore again giving vaccinations without an appointment at the vaccination streets. This weekend, 5,248 people were immunized in 15 vaccination streets as part of the campaign.
Together with Caritas, an action for asylum seekers is planned for August 5. On August 21, vaccination will take place in three shopping centers, announced vaccination coordinator Michael Koren. In addition, enough serum is now available so that doctors in private practice can order it in stock and vaccinate patients spontaneously.
Clubs and communities are also becoming increasingly important for vaccination strategies. Last Thursday, for example, the GAK sports center in Graz set up a vaccination campaign for soccer fans, and the 100 seats were booked out two days earlier. In the next two weeks, six municipalities will make their municipal offices available for vaccination campaigns; it is hoped that around 1,000 people will be interested.
Other federal states are taking similar approaches. Salzburg, Tyrol, Upper Austria and Vorarlberg are using vaccination buses, and Vienna even has a vaccination boat on the Old Danube. The aim is to achieve a vaccination rate of at least 70 percent throughout Austria.
— source: kurier.at/picture: pixabay.com
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