Category: Feature Stories

The flu vaccination will be offered at a significantly lower cost for everyone 18 and older throughout Austria starting in the fall of 2023: For the first time, the federal government, the provinces, and social insurance have agreed on a regular public vaccination program for adults; only the prescription fee will then have to be paid. The program is initially limited to two years and will then be evaluated. The common goal is to extend it to other vaccinations as well. Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) spoke of a historic…

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The GECKO advisory committee expects up to 70,000 new infections per day at the peak of the summer pandemic wave. The extent to which new infections will increase will depend on the measures imposed and individual behavior. In any case, the panel, headed in the medical section by Chief Medical Officer Katharina Reich, recommends facilitating the availability of drugs against the coronavirus. Many uncertainties remain about the timing of the peak of the current wave. Two effects should ensure that there is initially a slowing effect on the spread of…

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On July 1, 2022, EU roaming will be extended by ten years. Data speeds may then no longer be restricted. Free-roaming in the EU will be even better as of July 1Sending a photo from the beach in Italy or calling your parents from a city trip to Paris will incur no additional costs. The new EU roaming regulation will only come into force on Friday at the start of the vacation season. EU citizens can make calls, surf the Internet or send text messages on their cell phones at…

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Relief measures such as the reduction of energy levies provided a brief easing in household prices for electricity and gas in May. However, this effect was offset by the rise in prices of other energy sources, the Austrian Energy Agency admitted. In a year-on-year comparison, energy prices nevertheless rose by 38 percent overall in May. The experts expect further price increases. “Anyone who wants to sign a new contract must currently expect enormous price increases for new customer tariffs,” the Austrian Energy Agency said in a statement provided to APA.…

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In Lower Austria, the June temperature record was broken on Wednesday at 36.7 degrees. Vienna weather in detailJust before the end of the month, the June temperature record for this year, set ten days ago in Vorarlberg, was once again surpassed today (Wednesday) at the ZAMG weather station in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg in Lower Austria with 36.7 degrees. However, the values were away from the June record. Thus, it remains at the 38.6 degrees, measured on June 20, 2013, in Waidhofen/Ybbs, also in Lower Austria. Major temperature records between east and…

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Because of the milder corona courses caused by Omicron (and the problems caused by the many segregations), there are also considerations in Austria to change the quarantine and segregation rules. On Tuesday, a spokesman for Rauch explained (as published by APA) that the ministry is currently working on a variant management plan – and that “of course,” there are always plans and concepts on quarantine and isolation. One must always distinguish between contact persons and infected persons, he emphasized. The currently prevailing Corona variant also plays a role in the…

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The omicron sub-variant BA.5 is now also predominant in Austria. It is more contagious than the previously dominant variants. This is probably one reason infection numbers are not falling as in the past two summers. However, the European Union health agency ECDC sees no evidence that BA.5 leads to a more severe disease course in covid-19 compared to previous omicron lines. The same is true for the BA.4 subvariant, but there are indications that the two subvariants may again infect more lung cells and thus cause more severe courses. This…

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Vienna – The number of active Corona cases in Austria is expected to exceed the 100,000 mark again soon. At the same time, comparatively little is currently being tested. On Monday, just under 88,000 people were considered actively infected, compared to around 44,400 a week ago. Including those affected in quarantine, however, there are probably already more than 100,000 people in isolation. Corona-related outages are already causing problems for AUA. On Monday, 6,398 new infections were registered. Vienna, where the most testing is done, is the first province to have…

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In the race against mutating coronavirus, manufacturers have presented what they see as positive clinical data on adapted vaccines. For example, Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna recently published results showing that their adapted boosters stimulate an efficient immune response even against the newer omicron sublines BA.4 and BA.5. However, it is essential to note that the new vaccines are not specifically tailored to these variants but to the BA.1 subline, which is no longer circulating in Germany. There is now a debate about whether the approval process should not be shortened so…

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