Empty Vaccination Roads: New Law the Wrong Way?
The virologist Norbert Nowotny even makes people sit up and take notice with the statement that vaccination is currently no longer necessary. The new CoV infections have been declining for a few days. The same applies to the number of infected people. And internationally, many countries are comprehensively reducing their restrictions – only a few are not, including Germany and Austria.
Vaccination has been compulsory in Austria since February 1st. The federal law has been in effect since the weekend. Local inspection on Monday: The Red Cross vaccination route in the Salzburg Exhibition Center is the largest in the entire state. 600 people could be vaccinated here every day. On Monday there were 124, only three of which were first bites, says Matthias Herbst, who heads the vaccination line.
Psychologist misses structure in government
Christoph Komar vaccinates on behalf of the Red Cross: “Especially the first vaccinations are far too few compared to second vaccinations and booster injections.” Nationwide, only 496 first vaccinations have been counted since February 1st up to and including Sunday, that is almost 84 per day. Around 55,000 Salzburg residents are still not vaccinated, although they would be vaccinated, says the doctor: “You really don’t get any real opponents of vaccination even with the obligation.”
In the city of Salzburg, around a hundred people have applied for an exemption from compulsory vaccination in the past three weeks – all of them with a medical background.
Nobody expects the big rush to the vaccination centers despite compulsory vaccination.
Government disregarding needs?
For many, the federal government itself and its political style are to blame for the flute. The psychologist Sabine Schneider emphasizes that there is a lottery here with ups and downs: “Humans are classic structural beings. In psychology there is an expression of the hunger for structure that people have. And we haven’t had a structure in the system for two years. We urgently need to regain this structure, which the government has just set an example for, so that the willingness to vaccinate can increase again.”
Tone against doctors is getting harder
The few unvaccinated people who are currently getting vaccinated at all often do so under protest, says vaccinator Komar from the Red Cross: “People sometimes take their frustration out on us. The tone gets harder, sometimes aggressive, fortunately not physically so far. We vaccinate here, but the political task lies elsewhere. But we feel it here.”
Only a few states worldwide with obligation
The conclusion of most political and vaccination experts: Anyone who wants to be vaccinated has done it long ago. And if you don’t want to be vaccinated, even a quickly passed law, which is almost unique in all countries worldwide, will not get you to do so.