Austria's Lockdown: What Does It Mean For The Country And Beyond?

Austria has been in and out of lockdown since March 2020, when the country's chancellor Sebastian Kurz warned that everybody will have a family member or good friend dead due to COVID. The lockdown included a complete closure of all stores except supermarkets, pharmacies and banks, as well as schools, and a complete curfew. Since then, the country has seen unemployment rise and tourism to the capital, Vienna, become difficult. Travel to Austria for touristic purposes was only possible again after 13 December 2021.

Austria's lockdown only applies to those who are unvaccinated

Austria has implemented a nationwide COVID lockdown for unvaccinated people in the country. The lockdown is expected to last for at least 10 days. This comes as the country deals with a record-breaking wave of cases, with more than 10,000 people a day being infected over the weekend. With the country's population taken into account, this translates to around 850 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days. By comparison, the United Kingdom had 354 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days.

Austria's severe COVID wave is coupled with what the country's chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, has called a "shamefully low" vaccination rate, with 63% of people there fully vaccinated. This is higher than the U.S.'s vaccination rate of 58% but lower than many other countries in Western Europe.

Under the temporary new rules, Austrians not fully vaccinated against COVID are only permitted to leave their homes for certain reasons. Some German states are implementing so-called '2G' restrictions, under which people will not be allowed to enter establishments like cinemas, bars and restaurants unless they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID in the past six months.

Austria's lockdown is temporary

The lockdown is part of a wider trend in Europe, with the Netherlands also announcing a three-week partial lockdown and some German states implementing '2G' restrictions, which only allow fully vaccinated or recovered people to enter establishments like cinemas, bars and restaurants.

Austria's lockdown is a response to a record-breaking wave of COVID cases

Austria's severe COVID wave is coupled with a low vaccination rate, with only 63% of people fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data. This is lower than many other countries in Western Europe and has been described as "shamefully low" by the country's chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg.

Under the temporary new rules, Austrians who are not fully vaccinated against COVID are only permitted to leave their homes for certain reasons. The lockdown measures are part of Austria's efforts to curb the spread of the virus and protect its healthcare system from being overwhelmed.

Austria's vaccination rate is low compared to other countries in Western Europe

Austria has implemented a nationwide COVID lockdown for unvaccinated people, which is expected to last for at least 10 days. The country is dealing with a record-breaking wave of cases, with more than 10,000 people a day being infected. The country's chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, has called the vaccination rate "shamefully low", with 63% of people fully vaccinated. This is higher than the US's vaccination rate of 58%, but lower than many other countries in Western Europe.

Austria's vaccination rate is relatively low compared to other countries in Western Europe. In March 2022, 70% of Austria's population of 8.9 million had received two vaccine shots, and 54% had also had a booster shot. This is lower than the Netherlands (70.8%), Greece (69.9%), Luxemburg (68.5%) and Cyprus (53.4%).

Austria has announced the introduction of a general COVID-19 vaccine mandate but is experiencing increasing societal polarization over this issue. Public discourse has often focused on the actions of the most extreme group of vaccination opponents, such as demonstrations, forging vaccination certificates, and de-registrations from the public health registry. However, population-representative survey data for Austria reveal that vaccine hesitancy is a matter of degree, with some of the unvaccinated being more opposed to vaccinations than others.

To increase the vaccination rate, the Austrian government has tested different communicative and incentive strategies. For example, easing rather than tightening societal restrictions, a fixed monetary reward compared to a lottery, and physicians' recommendations were associated with significantly higher intentions to get vaccinated. However, most of the strategies did not show significant effects on vaccination readiness, suggesting that the remaining group of unvaccinated people is not easily swayed by communication interventions alone.

Austria's lockdown means people can only leave their homes for certain reasons

Austria has implemented a nationwide COVID lockdown for unvaccinated people, which is expected to last for at least 10 days. The country is dealing with a record-breaking wave of cases, with more than 10,000 people a day being infected. This translates to around 850 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days. Under the temporary new rules, Austrians who are not fully vaccinated against COVID are only permitted to leave their homes for certain reasons. The country's chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, has called the vaccination rate "shamefully low", with only 63% of people fully vaccinated. This is higher than the U.S. vaccination rate of 58%, but lower than many other countries in Western Europe.

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