Decision on possible mandatory vaccination suspension due by March 15

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The government wants to decide by March 15 on suspending the Corona vaccination requirement.

Even before the start of penalties for the unvaccinated from March 16, the government wants to decide on the enforcement of the Compulsory Vaccination Law and a possible suspension of compulsory vaccination.
The advisory commission of lawyers and health experts designated for this purpose is being formed these days and is expected to recommend the government to enforce the compulsory vaccination law before mid-March, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) said, after the Corona summit on Wednesday.

Decision on mandatory vaccination suspension to be made by March 15
To the law itself and the vaccination obligation as such one holds, as Nehammer and health minister Wolfgang Mückstein stressed. However, it remains to be seen whether the law will be enforced as planned. This, they said, is as flexible as the virus itself. “80 percent approval in parliament shows that it is a good law,” Nehammer said. “We have deliberately made the compulsory vaccination law flexible so that we are as flexible as the virus itself. (…) The compulsory vaccination law is designed to function as a toolbox,” Nehammer said. He added that the commission would examine proportionality and medical necessity and recommend the government accordingly.

Commission decision: Suspension of mandatory vaccination possible
Burgenland’s governor Hans-Peter Doskozil had previously told APA that a commission decision on compulsory vaccination was in prospect before March 15, possibly leading to a temporary suspension of mandatory vaccination.

Mückstein stressed the relevance of a high immunization rate
Mückstein stressed that a high immunization coverage rate is necessary “so that we are not surprised by a new variant in the fall.” He said he wanted to warn against the idea that the Omikron variant would achieve such a high level of immunity due to the high infection numbers that the pandemic would thus be over. For the Omicron variant, compulsory vaccination would come too late, but “we have to prepare for the autumn. Vaccination is not a short-term measure, like curfews or masks,” the health minister said. Most recently, several state governors had spoken out in the direction of suspending mandatory vaccination or penalties.