Austrian television, ORF reports that the first shipment with the vaccine against the coronavirus from the manufacturer Biontech/Pfizer has passed the Austrian border during the night. This was also announced by the Interior Ministry. The shipment of about 10,000 doses had started in Puurs, Belgium, and arrived at the Austrian border crossing at Suben in Upper Austria via Germany at about 2:00 a.m.. There, the transport was taken over by units of the regional traffic departments of Vienna and Upper Austria. From the state border, several police patrols took over…
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Humble Christmas Mass with Pope in Corona year
No handshaking for the greeting of peace, no preparation of gifts: under Corona conditions Pope Francis celebrated the traditional Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. At the Mass on the occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ, the head of the Catholic Church recalled charity. “Insatiably we want more and so we rush to the many feeding places of vanity, forgetting the manger of Bethlehem,” he said Thursday evening at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Referring to the Christmas story, Francis added in his homily that this manger was poor…
Read MoreModerna says vaccine should work against new virus variant
The pharmaceutical company assumes that its vaccine is also effective against the mutation discovered in Great Britain.Moderna assumes that its vaccine also protects against the more contagious variant of the Corona virus first detected in Great Britain. This is based on the data available so far, the pharmaceutical company says. Tests are planned for each variant. On Wednesday, Canada joined the U.S. in allowing the use of the Moderna vaccine, and it is expected to be approved soon in the EU as well. The Moderna vaccine needs two doses of…
Read MoreShopping on December 24, 2020 in Vienna: opening hours of the stores
Those who still have shopping to do on December 24, 2020, can still do so in various storesDecember 24 falls on a Thursday this year. In Vienna, there are still some opportunities to go shopping or get presents on Christmas Eve. We provide the info for last-minute shopping on December 24. Christmas tree sales in Vienna: Info Those who still have to get Christmas presents, groceries, a Christmas tree or the like on Christmas Eve still have a few hours to do so. Last-minute gifts can still be shopped for…
Read MoreThe rules for 24 and 25. December
Slightly relaxed CoV rules apply today and tomorrow (December 24 and 25). On these two days, nighttime curfew restrictions are completely lifted. Contact restrictions will also be significantly relaxed, with a maximum of ten people from up to ten different households allowed to meet. The rule of one meter distance is lifted, the mask obligation with meetings inside off the own private living range does not apply likewise. This also applies to barns, garden sheds and garages, which (like gardens) may exceptionally be used for meetings of more than two…
Read MoreNew coronavirus strain in the UK: Is there cause for concern
The data from England prove what went through the media: The virus is spreading at breakneck speed – “Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good,” Germany’s best-known virologist Christian Drosten writes about it. But there is also good news: Contact reduction also helps in this case, says Drosten. In other words, the mutation does not currently change anything, as Hans-Peter Hutter, an environmental physician at MedUni Vienna, explains. Also, according to the English data, there were only six deaths out of 900 infected people, which confirms that the course is not made…
Read MoreCoronavirus Vaccination for Minister Anschober “huge opportunity”.
On Monday, the first Covid-19 vaccine was approved in the EU – according to Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens), we are now facing a “huge opportunity”. By summer, “everyone who wants it” should have the opportunity to be vaccinated in Austria, Anschober said on ZIB2. Right at the beginning, Anschober called the vaccination a gift. In the spring, people had still dreamed of being vaccinated against the coronavirus. The goal, he said, is to achieve a vaccination coverage rate of 50 percent by summer. Austria will start vaccinations on December…
Read MoreVienna mass tests will take place from 8 to 17 January 2021
Because of the huge rush, the Vienna city government has announced more testing opportunities for the next few days. In the test lanes near the Austria Center in Vienna, there will be more appointment slots before Christmas after all. This was announced by a spokesman for city health councillor Peter Hacker (SPÖ) on Tuesday. Until December 26, 1,000 additional appointments per day will be possible. Also the time for the next mass tests is now certain. The capacity expansion had become possible by the establishment of further walk-in lanes and…
Read MoreFirst cases of infection in Antarctica
Coronavirus has reached a research station in Antarctica and now all continents. At least 36 CoV infected people have been registered at Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme station. The infected are 26 members of the military and ten civilians of a maintenance company, Chilean media reported yesterday evening (local time) with reference to the army, which operates the station. For months, the southern continent had been one of the last places where it was possible to be calmly among people indoors. Stringent measures helped prevent a CoV outbreak. Countries with research…
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