Category: General Interest

The traffic light commission has now assessed the risk situation as very high for all of Austria due to the epidemiological development in recent days and is therefore setting it to red throughout – including Vorarlberg. Last week, Vorarlberg was still exempt, although the Commission also saw worrying developments there. This is according to the current risk assessment, which is available to APA. The reason is the burden on the healthcare system, which has further increased compared to the previous week. Intensive care unit utilization due to Covid 19 patients…

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This news surprised the Austrians at the end of January: The supermarket brand “Merkur” will cease, the stores will now become “Billa Plus” Preparations in the 144 “Merkur” stores for the renaming are already in full swing. Thousands of signs, handles and price markers have to be replaced. From April 1, the time has come for the stores to open only as “Billa Plus”. Until the last traces of the former “Merkur” branding have really disappeared, it will still take a few weeks, explained Rewe spokesman Paul Pöttschacher in an…

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On Wednesday, Chancellor Kurz announced that they were “on the last meters” in the Sputnik procurement. However, a final decision on the matter is not expected today. Russia offers Austria 1 million dosesAfter his talks with Russian Ambassador to Vienna Dmitry Lyubinsky, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said they are “on the last meters and an order for Sputnik can probably be placed as early as next week.” Kurz said he was very happy about the binding delivery promise, as a “very prompt delivery” would thus be possible here. Currently, after already…

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Vaccinations in Upper Austria are progressing and already at the end of April there is another boost from the Johnson&Johnson vaccine. Nearly 270,000 doses of vaccine have now been administered in Upper Austria. While there are currently three vaccines available (AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna), there will be four from the end of April. The vaccine from Johnson&Johnson will then be delivered. “According to the current status, the first doses will be delivered at the end of April,” it says in this regard from the crisis staff of the country reported…

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has discussed possible cooperation on vaccines with French President Emmanuel Macron and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. The exchange via video link also dealt with the Russian Corona vaccine Sputnik V, whose EU approval is to be decided by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Tuesday evening. “This evaluation is done according to the same standards that are applied to all other vaccines,” it said. According to Kremlin sources, among the issues discussed were prospects of “possible supplies and joint production of this…

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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is currently conducting a rolling review of the approval of the Russian CoV vaccine “Sputnik V”. There is no result yet. Nevertheless, the government is currently negotiating with Russia on a delivery of one million doses of the vaccine to Austria. Delivery could start as early as April. Kurz and Anschober: vaccine must be safe“There must be no geopolitical blinkers when it comes to the vaccine. The only thing that should count is whether the vaccine is effective and safe, not where it comes from,”…

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The green passport is supposed to give vaccinated people more freedom. But it is not a clean bill of health, some measures will continue to apply to them. In the EU committee of the Bundesrat, the EU proposal on the “digital green certificate”, which is to give vaccinated people more freedoms,had been debated on Monday. The Union is working towards an entry into force on June 26. Austria, however, is moving ahead with its own “green passport” and wants to implement it as early as the end of April. Although…

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Willhaben users are flogging the free Corona gargle tests available at Bipa in Vienna on the sales platform. On the private sales platform willhaben.at gargle tests can currently be found, which the population in Vienna can get for free at Bipa. Partly up to 20 euros per test are demanded, some sellers also give away packages with 8 pieces around 50 or 80 euros. On Twitter, corresponding screenshots were posted with the request to Willhaben to remove the offers. City of Vienna strongly advises against purchaseThe City of Vienna is…

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The government plans to offer Corona vaccination to three-quarters of the Austrian population over 16 by early July. However, this would require more than doubling the number of initial vaccinations. That’s because last week only 143,189 people received the first dose of their Corona vaccination, according to figures released Monday by the vaccination registry. Overall, 12.7 percent of all Austrians are currently vaccinated – among those over 85, the figure is six out of ten. A total of 227,576 vaccinations were carried out last week, which is only 770 more…

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