Austria is the first European democracy to make compulsory vaccination against Covid-19. However, not only the implementation of this radical step is unclear, but also the constitutionality.
Despite many concerns, Austria’s government is sticking to the obligation to inject.
Several media have the law introducing compulsory vaccination as typical «Austrian solution» designated. This is not meant as an award, but rather as an expression of muddling through, a likeable sloppiness, a perhaps toothless compromise – but well intentioned! And indeed one gets the impression that the government wanted to please everyone. Hardly any proposal in recent years has so concerned the population, and hardly any of them affects everyone so directly.
In the consultation process almost 110,000 comments were therefore received – a record. Many came from vaccine skeptics who coordinated their protest and often announced it verbatim. But there were also serious concerns from government officials. The courts, for example, fear tens of thousands of additional procedures by people who want to defend themselves against a sentence. A doubling of the staff is required for processing. The health database, which is jointly responsible for implementation, said that implementation would only be possible in April because all exceptions had to be recorded in the national vaccination register beforehand. And several well-known epidemiologists explained that the obligation to vaccinate comes too late for the current wave of infections.
The fourth lockdown was a result of the low vaccination rate
The new Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer did not want to deviate from the introduction in February, which had been announced by his predecessor. The result is a “vaccination requirement light”, which at best serves to save the government’s face. Initially, there is only an “initial phase” – which is in fact nothing more than a postponement of the start to mid-March. Only from then on should the vaccination status be randomly checked, for example as part of traffic controls. Police officials are fighting against such “surveillance”. Automated penalties based on the register will only exist in a third phase and only in the case of “epidemiological necessity”. Whether that will ever happen is an open question.
When the conservative-green coalition announced compulsory vaccination in November, it had just decided on the fourth hard lockdown for Austria. The fact that the pandemic situation got so out of control again undoubtedly had something to do with the comparatively low vaccination rate. But lockdowns only provide a respite and are not a long-term strategy. In this respect, compulsory vaccination was a radical but consistent step.
Since then, however, the circumstances with the Omicron variant have changed fundamentally. Fortunately, the vaccines approved in Europe continue to provide excellent protection against serious illness. But the obligation to vaccinate is a drastic interference with the personal freedom and physical integrity of the individual. It can only be justified if it is the only way to protect an even greater good. The functioning of the public health system can be regarded as such, only this has not reached its limit in any country where the omicron wave has already reached its peak. The number of Covid patients in intensive care units is also decreasing in Austria. she is currently only a third of the high from early December.
An effective drug is about to be approved
The Minister of Health admits that the vaccination requirement for the current wave comes too late. However, it should be a prevention for the coming autumn and then ensure a “high overall immunity”. In fact, not only in Austria was a problem of this pandemic that governments acted too little with foresight. Nothing guarantees that a more dangerous mutation won’t afflict the world again. At the moment, however, the experts are much more likely to assume that Omikron will initiate the transition to the endemic phase of the virus through widespread immunization. The governments in Spain and Great Britain are already comparing it to the flu. In addition, an effective drug against Covid-19 is about to be approved, which is particularly suitable for the treatment of unvaccinated high-risk patients.
These factors indicate that the corona virus could still necessitate restrictions on personal freedom in the coming months and maybe even years – for example through a mask requirement. However, mandatory vaccination is currently hardly proportionate and therefore possibly even unconstitutional. In any case, the government’s saving of face does not legitimize such an encroachment on civil liberties. For this reason, it is to be welcomed that this is an “Austrian solution”, which is mainly on paper and will have little practical significance.