Coronavirus Austria, which gained a reputation as the backbone of Europe, overtook Finland in vaccine coverage in January

Berlin

About their negative vaccine well-known Austria overtook Finland in vaccination coverage in January. Germany, which has also gained a reputation as a backward vaccination country, is close to Finland’s figures for the coverage of the two vaccinations that guarantee full vaccine protection.

The coverage of booster vaccines in both Austria and Germany is clearly wider than in Finland. Of the Nordic countries, Denmark and Sweden are ahead of Finland in terms of full vaccine protection.

The number one vaccine in Finland is higher than in Germany and Austria, but lower than in Sweden or Denmark.

Finland has gained current vaccination coverage on a voluntary basis, while in Austria and Germany, as in many other Central European countries, the unvaccinated have been partially excluded from social services with a vaccine passport.

The vaccine passport has increased vaccination coverage in several countries. Finland has not wanted to introduce it due to its unequal effect. The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said last week that the introduction of a vaccine passport in Finland would increase the ban on vaccination.

Read more: THL is no longer in favor of a corona passport or its conversion into a vaccine passport: “Serious side effect”

Demonstrations by thousands of people against the need for coronary vaccination are regularly seen in several Central European countries. There were also recent vaccination demonstrations by 4,000 people in Helsinki, and at the same time hundreds of other people were demonstrating elsewhere in Finland.

A vaccine passport, which excludes unvaccinated people from many services, is in use in several Central European countries.

It is based on the widest possible freedoms for vaccinated citizens, encouraging vaccination and protecting the capacity of hospitals during the delta wave. In many countries, the passport has been in use for a long time since the autumn.

Read more: “Superpass”, “2G +” and “Health Passport” – This is how the doors of European countries are now closed to unvaccinated

The principle of freedom with the vaccine passport has been upheld in both delta and omicron waves: in Berlin, for example, cultural events and restaurants were last closed in May 2021.

Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands resorted to short closures earlier in the winter, but restrictions are now being lifted in several countries.

Viennese virologin Norbert Nowotnyn According to Austria, a further leap of five percentage points in vaccination rates is expected when new vaccines become available at the end of February.

In German-speaking Europe, the distrust of many vaccinees is precisely the new mrna technology on which Biontech’s and Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines are based.

They are willing to take a traditional vaccine they make, for example Novavax and Valneva, in which proteins carry parts of the virus that produce an immune response in the body.

According to Nowotny, there was really no alternative to coercive measures to divide the people in Austria. Vaccination coverage stood at around 60 percent in the fall, despite repeated requests and urges from politicians.

However, with the Compulsory Act, he would have waited longer than the Austrian Government to see the impact of traditional vaccinations on vaccination coverage. The law was passed by the Austrian Parliament in clear figures.

According to Nowotny, the clear majority of the people are behind it. In Germany, too, the majority supports the obligation to vaccinate in opinion polls.

According to Nowotny, omicron places stricter requirements on the level of immune protection than the delta variant or previous forms of coronavirus. According to him, 85-90% of the population must have protection from either the disease or vaccines.

In January, the vaccination campaigns in Germany and Austria have not progressed at the desired pace. In Austria, the government has launched a vaccination lottery to get unvaccinated people back on the move. Several similar rapes have taken place in Austria.

Read more: Austrian government encourages citizens to be vaccinated in the lottery: € 500 gift cards drawn among vaccinees

Last as a means in Austria, people are now being vaccinated under the threat of a fine. The Vaccination Compulsory Act will take effect on Tuesday. Every Austrian household will be informed by letter of the new obligation.

Until mid-March, the fines in the new law are not in place, but people have one and a half months to apply for the vaccine. Initially, the law is monitored on a point-by-point basis, based on random catching.

In the third phase of the law, reminder letters are sent to those who are not vaccinated every six months. Refusal to vaccinate could result in fines totaling thousands of euros.

In Germany, too, politicians are preparing a statutory vaccine obligation, but it may not come into force until the summer.

In Germany and in Austria the omicron wave has been slower than in Britain or Finland. Infection peaks are still ahead.

The reasons for the slower Korona wave in several European countries are the German government holding a vaccine passport and a comprehensive FFP2 mask compulsion. Already less restrictive restrictions than in Finland have already been decided to be lifted in Austria and parts of Germany.

The vaccine passport has not stopped and will not stop the omicron, but according to Nowotny, thanks to the strict vaccine passport and the rapid distribution of the third dose of the vaccine, Austria has avoided and continues to avoid serious cases of the disease.