Austria says COVID-19 no longer poses danger, halts vaccine mandate

Austria on Wednesday halted mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for all adults, declaring that Covid-19 pandemic no longer poses the same danger as was perceived in the period the law was made.

The Austrian government had joined some other European countries to make coronavirus vaccine jabs compulsory for all adults.

Austria minister Karoline Edtstadler explained that the vaccine mandate has to be ended because the law’s “encroachment of fundamental rights” could no longer be justified by the danger posed by the pandemic.

Edtstadler had highlighted: “After consultations with the health minister, we have decided that we will of course follow what the (expert) commission has said.

“We see no need to actually implement this compulsory vaccination due to the (Omicron) variant that we are predominantly experiencing here.”

The coronavirus variant has been declared to be less severe than previous strains of the virus; Austrian hospitals were said to have been able to cope with a surge in cases. Thus, the government decided to drop most coronavirus restrictions in recent weeks.

According to Edtstadler: “Just like the virus keeps on changing, we need to be flexible and adaptable.”