Category: General Interest

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…

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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…

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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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In Vienna, Lower and Upper Austria, the first people will also be vaccinated against Covid-19 on Sunday with the joint EU launch of the Corona vaccinations. The province of Tyrol expects the first of two necessary partial immunizations for individual high-risk people before the end of December. In the other five provinces, the first administrations of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine are expected to be carried out in the first half of January, a roundup revealed. In a first tranche, 10,000 doses of the vaccine will arrive in Austria shortly after Christmas,…

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New agreement of the Ministry of Culture with all 16 churches and religious groups for the containment of the corona virus is valid from December 28 to January 17 – Exemption for Orthodox Christmas. Vienna, 21.12.2020 – From December 28 to January 17, there will be no public religious services. The 16 churches and religious societies have agreed with the Ministry of Culture on Monday. The reason for this are the new tightenings for the containment of the Coronavirus. Thus, public worship services can take place as planned on Christmas…

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The EMA’s recommendation for the vaccine from BioNTech and Pfizer was eagerly awaited. Yesterday afternoon, the green light was given: vaccination can begin.The next step is for the EU Commission to decide on the use of the preparation for all member countries – this is considered a formality and should happen before Christmas.Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) spoke of a “joyful day after ten months of hard fighting against the Corona pandemic”. He said that if the EU gives the green light, Austria will “swiftly begin distribution and the first vaccinations…

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According to WHO, the mutation from the UK is already circulating in Australia, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark. It is clearly more contagious, it said. The new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus has been found in Australia, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark in addition to the United Kingdom. Apart from Denmark, these were isolated cases, World Health Organization (WHO) coronavirus expert Maria van Kerkhove reported Monday in Geneva. The virus can be brought under control even in the new variant, WHO emergency coordinator Michael Ryan stressed. “The situation…

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The Ministry of Social Affairs on Monday presented the draft regulation for the third “hard” Corona lockdown. It does not yet include the free testing phase, because the regulation is valid for the time being until January 4. There are no surprises in the measures. It is made clear that testing obligations for Covid 19 patients do not apply for three months. More visits will be allowed to nursing home residents at Christmas. On Dec. 24 and 25, residents of nursing and retirement homes will be allowed two visits from…

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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) officially recommended approval of the BioNTech and Pfizer vaccine on Monday afternoon. It said the approval will apply to all persons 16 years of age and older and to all EU member states at the same time. “This is a significant milestone in the fight against the pandemic,” Marie-Agnes Heine, head of EMA’s communications department, said in an opening statement. The EMA’s scientific opinion now paves the way for the first approval of the Covid 19 vaccine by the European Commission. The latter, meanwhile, has…

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