Mandatory vaccination fixed – every three months to 3,600 euros fine

Spread the love

Read Time:2 Minute, 59 Second

The Ministry of Social Affairs finalized on Thursday the upcoming Corona vaccination requirement in Austria.

The government has fixed the details of the coming vaccination obligation in Austria. The agreement was not only reached as an ÖVP-Green government, but the SPÖ and NEOS are also on board. The “COVID 19 Compulsory Vaccination Act” was created especially for the project. This vaccination obligation interferes with fundamental rights, but “under certain conditions, the legislator is entitled to restrict fundamental rights,” according to the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The reason given for the implementation is the low vaccination coverage rate in Austria and the “associated challenges for pandemic control, in particular the overloading of the health care system.” The Social Ministry also points to constitutional lawyers who have confirmed that mandatory vaccination serves to protect public health and is compatible with fundamental rights. The bill will now be sent for review.

The law states that compulsory vaccination “will not be enforced with physical coercion.” It will come into force at the beginning of February 2022 and will probably remain in force until the end of January 2024. If new Corona vaccines are used by then, they will be taken into account in the law. Accordingly, “all persons over the age of 14 who have their main residence in Austria or have a main residence confirmation” must be vaccinated.

Later it is specified that the vaccination obligation applies to “in principle each person resident in Austria”. There are only a few exceptions: pregnant persons (but only for the duration of the pregnancy), persons who cannot be vaccinated without risk to life or health, convalescent persons for 180 days from the date of sampling of the positive PCR test, and children under 14 years of age. There are no other exceptions.

Reasons for exemption must be confirmed by a medical certificate, which must contain information about the person concerned, information about the issuing physician, information about the reason for exemption and the date when the reason for exemption ceases to exist. Recovered persons, in turn, must be able to provide proof of recovery or a certificate of recovery. In order to cover all persons, the population register, central vaccination register and epidemiological reporting system are compared with each other.

Every quarter, the law provides for so-called “vaccination deadlines” on which all persons recorded in the vaccination register are checked. Unvaccinated persons receive a reminder shortly before this date, asking them to be vaccinated by the next “vaccination cut-off date”. If no vaccination or an exemption reason is entered by the “vaccination deadline,” “the unvaccinated person will be issued a penalty order by the competent district administrative authority,” it says.

The respective criminal proceedings are handled by the district administrative authorities, not the federal government, but the identification of those affected is done at the federal level. Penalties are issued on a quarterly basis, with either due process or, alternatively, summary proceedings. In the abbreviated case, up to 600 euros are due immediately; if no payment is made or an appeal is lodged, ordinary proceedings are initiated. In this case, the penalty increases up to 3,600 euros.

This penalty process repeats itself with each “vaccination deadline”. However, the law also puts a stop to doctors who issue false exemption certificates: There is an “administrative penalty provision” with a penalty of up to 3,600 euros for them. Surprisingly, imprisonment for vaccination refusers is not planned. “No substitute custodial sentence will be imposed in any proceedings,” says the Ministry of Social Affairs.