Austria became the first country this week to formally introduce a selective lockdown: one that selectively seeks to lock down only the unvaccinated. For the first time, national law and individual freedoms have come to depend on vaccination choices. Leaders of the country met on Friday and finally decided to enforce a full lockdown that will come into effect on Monday.
The government was under pressure to declare a full lockdown – some of the hardest-hit provinces were preparing to do that already. The new push came amidst continually rising cases despite the partial measures introduced this week. Austria currently has around a thousand cases per 100,000 population. That is by far the highest rate in Europe.
Austria would seem the least likely to record such an incidence. In India, overpopulation and population density were blamed for a fast spread earlier this year. The same could hardly be said of a country celebrated for its vast open spaces around its hills, all shared by a population of less than nine million, so about half that of Delhi.
But Austria has one of the least uptakes of the virus, no more than 66 per cent. That the incidence of the virus is highest in Upper Austria, where the far-right Freedom Party is dominant, has underlined the fact that vaccination refusal is leading to the spread. The Freedom Party has long opposed vaccination.
Law
The lockdown for the unvaccinated has been legally controversial. Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said his aim was to “get the unvaccinated to get vaccinated, not to lock up the unvaccinated”. The partial lockdown was intended as a disincentive against vaccine scepticism and stopped just short of a law requiring everyone to get vaccinated.
Many countries are already following a “no jab, no job" policy by requiring some sectors of workers, particularly in healthcare and emergency services, to get vaccinated if they expect to continue to do their jobs. But Austria’s move risked another appeal against such a requirement before the European Court of Human Rights.
Earlier appeals to this court from groups opposed to vaccination have not gone far. Cases by groups in the Czech Republic and Romania were dismissed. The court held that it cannot overrule national decisions on such a matter.
Police
In seeking to enforce the partial lockdown, Austrian police began routine and random checks particularly on commuters around the country to see if unvaccinated people were breaking their lockdown. They were on the lookout for more than two million unvaccinated adults who may be on the move, against the law.
Those who have had one jab could be released if they could produce a negative Covid test. Others faced fines between 500 and 3,600 euros. For a family with several unvaccinated adults stepping out, it could turn out to be an expensive outing.
“Every citizen has to expect to be checked,” interior minister Karl Nehammer said. “It can happen anytime and anywhere.”
But a string of exceptions had been made. The unvaccinated could go to their workplace if they had a negative result, do essential shopping, do outdoor physical exercise, meet a partner, and go for religious observance. As a result, the number of prosecutions had been small, and the selective lockdown was not quite working as an incentive to get vaccinated.
India
The split between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated has been working quite differently in India, where the prime complaint is delays in getting inoculated. A refusal to get vaccinated is currently masked by the state constraints in double-dosing every adult, and now handing out a possible third booster jab.
Vaccine hesitancy in India is undoubtedly still a major factor in leaving large numbers unvaccinated. But whether the shortfall is due to unavailability from the government, or unwillingness among people, the Austrian example stands as a strong warning to India that leaving a significant population unvaccinated, even if it is a relatively small fraction, can bring a surge in Covid right back.
That danger has arisen elsewhere in Europe. The Netherlands has imposed a national lockdown. Restaurants and non-essential shops are closing early, and major sporting events will be held without spectators.
Germany too is seeing a rise in cases. Health minister Jens Spahn has said that Germany will face a “bitter December” if the spread is not halted early. Germany is now facing a fourth wave of the virus, with a significant part of its population unvaccinated. Europe is heading into a bleak Christmas all around.
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