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The lockdown for the unvaccinated ends on January 31 – but all other measures remain. There is still one correction for vaccination certificates.
The lockdown for those unvaccinated against coronavirus ends next Monday. All other measures such as 2G in the trade and the curfew at 22 clock remain. This was announced by Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) before the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. Nehammer, however, held out the prospect that there could soon be further relaxations. Furthermore, the validity of vaccination certificates will be shortened as planned.
The lockdown for the unvaccinated has for weeks been “a measure that many people complain about, but was unavoidable for health policy reasons,” Nehammer said. Over Christmas and the turn of the year, the lockdown would also have worked, Mückstein emphasized. However, together with Gecko, they have come to the conclusion that there is no threat of an immediate overload of intensive care capacity, he said.
However, with 2G rules remaining in place in almost all areas, including general commerce, re-vaccinated people remain very restricted. Demands for further relaxation have recently been voiced from the opposition.
Also legal experts consider with the introduction of the inoculation obligation starting from 1 February the extensive restrictions no longer tenable. For example, constitutional law expert Peter Bußjäger of the University of Innsbruck said in the “Presse” that the 2-G rule in hotels or pubs is still conceivable. “But whether an unvaccinated person should not even be able to buy shoes, I don’t know,” says the professor.
For now, however, the government is sticking with it, he says, because the omicron craze isn’t over yet. Nehammer hinted before the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, however, that there could soon be relaxations as well. “Our top priority is to keep restrictions as light as possible and only as long as absolutely necessary,” he said. The lockdown for the unvaccinated is one of the most stringent measures that can be put in place. The situation in the hospitals allows us to end it now.”
However, he said, the threat is not over and we are seeing new highs in new infections every week. “Therefore, caution is still needed. My appeal to those 1.5 million people who are still unvaccinated is therefore: do not wait for mandatory vaccination. Take advantage of this opportunity and get vaccinated. Vaccination protects themselves, it protects their fellow human beings and it protects us as a community,” Nehammer said.
Changes are coming to vaccination certificates, Mückstein explained. Starting Feb. 1, the legal minimum interval between 2nd and 3rd vaccination will be reduced from 120 days to 90 days. However, the recommendation of the National Immunization Panel continues to be that the 3rd vaccination be given no earlier than four months after the 2nd vaccination and no earlier. Affected individuals who have previously received a 2/2 vaccination certificate due to falling below this minimum interval after the 3rd vaccination will be issued a new 3/3 vaccination certificate in a timely manner.
Because medical recommendations have changed, the validity of vaccination certificates in the Green Passport will also change as of February 1. As of February 1, 2022, the vaccination certificate on the first vaccination series (2 vaccinations or recovery + 1 vaccination) will only be valid for 180 days (i.e. 6 months).
There is an exception for persons under 18 years of age. Their vaccination certificate on the first vaccination series will be valid for 210 days (i.e. 7 months). The booster vaccination certificate (3 vaccinations or recovery + 2 vaccinations) will continue to be valid for 270 days (9 months).
For entry into Austria, vaccination certificates or other proof of vaccination will remain valid for 270 days.
- source: huete.at/picture:pixabay.com
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