Compulsory vaccination to be voted on by the Federal Council

The plan to make vaccination compulsory in Austria is expected to be voted through in Austria’s Federal Council or Bundesrat (the upper house of the Austrian Parliament) later today.

The ÖVP, Greens, NEOS parties and most of the SPÖ party are all expected to vote through the proposal from the National Council. All that will remain is the signature of the Federal President and an announcement before vaccination against Covid-19  becomes mandatory in Austria from the age of 18.

There will be exceptions from the vaccine mandate for pregnant women and those who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons, as well as for those who have recovered (for 180 days). The penalty ranges from 600 to 3,600 euros, but checks will only begin from mid-March.

Mayor to decide later on Covid-19 rules for Vienna

The Mayor of Vienna will meet with advisors this morning to decide on whether to impose stricter rules for Vienna than the rest of Austria. Michael Ludwig, who is in the opposition SPÖ party, previously criticised the federal government’s plans to relax restrictions across Austria.

He said the number of infections with Covid-19 were still too high. From Saturday (February 5), the curfew in Austria is set to be extended until midnight and 2G restrictions in retail will also be gradually lifted.

Record number of Tuesday Covid-19 infections in Austria

Austria reported a new record of almost 40,000 new Covid-19 infections in 24 hours for Tuesday, with the Health and Interior Ministries reporting a total of 39,410 cases.

Wednesdays are typically the weekday with the most recorded cases, partly because the weekly PCR tests taken in schools are often included in these results. Last Wednesday 34,011 cases were reported. Austria is expecting to reach the peak of the Omicron wave this weekend

More short term parking zones for Lower Austria

Communities in Lower Austria are creating more short term parking zones, to mitigate the impact of changes to short term parking which will come into effect in Vienna from 1st March. From that date Vienna will introduce a parking permit system across the whole of the city.

This will mean only people with their main residence (Hauptwohnsitz in German) in Vienna can reserve a parking space. ​​The communities of Perchtoldsdorf in Mödling and Schwechat will also introduce more short term parking zones to stop streets getting clogged up with parked cars.

Both the states of Lower Austria and Vienna plan to introduce more park and ride schemes in future. 

Covid-19 testing made easier for kindergarten age children

Children at Vienna’s kindergartens will be given special ‘spit funnels’ to make it easier for them to carry out ‘gargle tests’ to ensure they do not have Covid-19.

One problem is that small children find it difficult to spit the solution used for the ‘gargle tests’ into a test-tube accurately.

Around 100,000 re-usable funnels will now be handed out in kindergartens and special schools in the hope it will become easier for parents and kindergarten staff to test children. Funnels will also be available for children to take home.

The City of Vienna says the funnels can be used by toddlers from one year of age. There is more information here (German language link).