Fewer and fewer people in Austria are following the National Immunization Panel (NIG) recommendations on Corona vaccination, according to data published by the Ministry of Health.
According to the data, only over half are vaccinated, according to the expert recommendation. That is 817,000 fewer people than in July. The Ministry of Health now intends to discontinue the corresponding statistics and publish only the number of vaccine doses administered.
Corona vaccination via NIG recommendation
Since the end of June, the Ministry of Health has been publishing online how many people are following the expert recommendations for Corona vaccination. At that time, 5.6 million were vaccinated, according to the NIG recommendation – representing 62 percent of the population. However, the number has fallen steadily since then: currently, only 4.8 million follow the advice of the vaccination experts (53 percent).
The decline is particularly sharp among older age groups. Vaccination coverage among the over-85s has fallen from 84 to 61 percent, and among 75- to 84-year-olds from 86 to 71. Overall, the over-65s still follow the recommendations of the National Vaccination Panel most closely. Vaccination coverage is highest among 65- to 74-year-olds, at 72 percent.
Recommendations on 3rd and 4th corona vaccination.
The vaccination panel has recently expanded its recommendations on Corona vaccination several times. For example, since the end of August, the experts have recommended the fourth vaccination (“booster vaccination”) from the age of twelve instead of 60. For those over 60, the interval to the third vaccination has been reduced to four months. Before the summer, the booster recommendation had only applied to those over 65 or at-risk groups.
How many people follow the NIG recommendation in total and how many do not, however, will only be publicly available until mid-December. The Ministry of Health announced a new change in the Corona statistics on Tuesday: According to it, the daily publication of the vaccination coverage rate will only take place until December 15, according to the NIG recommendation. In the future, only how many people have completed the first vaccination series (1st and 2nd vaccination) and how many have also received the 3rd vaccination (“basic immunization”) and a “booster vaccination” (4th or more) will be reported.
According to the Austrian Press Agency (APA), the ministry justified the change in vaccination statistics by stating that the recommendations of the vaccination panel focused in great detail on the individual factors of specific population groups. Instead of showing this detail in the vaccination coverage rate, the focus is now on vaccination intervals, it said. In addition, a ministry spokesperson said the goal is to counteract a “dynamic adjustment of vaccination rates” following changes in vaccination recommendations.
- sources: APA/vienna.at/picture: pixabay.com
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