Category: General Interest

In light of high Corona case numbers in Europe and the new virus variant Omikron, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has issued an urgent call to vaccinate. “The most important thing now is to continue to bring vaccination rates up in Europe as quickly as possible. And in all age groups, children included,” the German politician said Wednesday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, APA reports. “The price we all pay in the meantime for too low vaccination rates is, after all, getting higher and higher.” That applies,…

Read More

Two vaccinations with BioNtech/Pfizer’s Corona vaccine offer good protection against severe disease progression when infected with the Omicron variant, according to a South African study. “The double dose of Pfizer/BioNtech’s vaccine shows a 70 percent efficacy in reducing the risk of hospitalization,” the head of Discovery, the private health insurer involved in the study, Ryan Noach, said Tuesday. The study, which Discovery carried out with the South African Council for Medical Research (SAMRC), is based on samples from 78,000 PCR tests taken in South Africa between Nov. 15 and Dec.…

Read More

The government’s pandemic task force added eight countries and territories on its “red list,” the most severe risk classification for COVID-19, effective December 16 until the end of the month, Malacañang announced Wednesday.  Countries included in the red list are: Andorra , France, Monaco, Northern Mariana Islands, Réunion, San Marino, South Africa, Switzerland  Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles during his regular briefing stressed that only Filipinos will be allowed to travel to the Philippines from “red list” areas.  Austria is included in the red list. These Filipinos must be returning home…

Read More

Attention – since last weekend there is again a rapid increase in scam SMS, which pretend the imminent delivery of a package. Warning against SMS from fake parcel servicesIn the last five days, we have received more than 4,000 complaints in this regard,” informs Dr. Klaus M. Steinmaurer, RTR’s managing director for the Telecommunications and Postal Division, and explains: “The pre-Christmas season and lockdown are predestined for ordering parcels online. Many of us wait impatiently for our packages, are stressed and breathe a sigh of relief when we finally, finally…

Read More

The Novavax vaccine NVX-CoV2373 is expected to receive its approval this week, according to the director general of public health. In a best-case scenario, that would make it available in Austria before the end of the year. Austrians should not wait for inactivated vaccinesKatharina Reich, director general for public health, expects the new NVX-CoV2373 protein vaccine from U.S. pharmaceutical company Novavax to be approved in the coming days and, in a best-case scenario, delivered to Austria before the end of December. “An additional vaccine will reach our portfolio very soon,”…

Read More

Virologist Florian Krammer of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York is less optimistic about the initial data on the Omicron variant. “It is spreading rapidly” and appears to be a good escape variant, he said. “So it’s very likely that it will need an Omikron-specific booster.” However, he said, there is evidence that convalescents and double-vaccinated people are at least further protected against severe courses. Adapted booster for Krammer “very likely” neededIt looks like the new pathogen type may escape relatively well from an antibody…

Read More

The “Green Passport” app can currently be updated. Although the download does not offer many new functions, the adjustments are certainly helpful. For example, you now have to select your own federal state when logging in. This is useful because the current measures do not apply nationwide. Two green fields show whether the current certificate allows entry or visiting the night restaurant. Also new is the display of the validity, i.e. until when the certificate is valid. Since this validity period has changed recently and may also be adjusted in…

Read More

Yesterday, Monday, trade opens again. This applies to all provinces except Upper Austria, which follows on December 17 – and especially only for vaccinated or recovered people with 2-G proof and FFP2 masks. According to trade representatives, however, checks are not carried out at every entrance. The trade association expects a restrained start, although the customer frequency will be higher, since hundredthousand trade employees as well as employees in bodynear services return from the short-time work. In many places, the home office is also coming to an end. Towards the…

Read More

The general lockdown ends at midnight on Saturday, but openings vary by country. A new ordinance regulates private gatherings. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, the lockdown ends, gastronomy and trade are allowed to open again. However, not all federal states will make use of this – initially, only the high-incidence states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol as well as Burgenland will open to the full extent. In Vienna, people will have to wait a week longer to visit the pubs. The exit restrictions for the unvaccinated remain in place.…

Read More