Austria: Scientists call for “extreme caution”

Taking into account the recent statements of its federal chancellor Austria, Sebastian Kurtz, according to which the government in Vienna wants to focus more on the individual responsibility of the population in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, experts call for extreme caution so as not to aggravate the situation with the pandemic. “Now we have to be extremely careful not to get into a situation like in the Netherlands, where the number of infections has increased seven times in a week,” the well-known Austrian epidemiologist Gerald Gartlerner told Austrian Public Television.

In the medium term, the strategy of demanding individual responsibility from the population is correct, but now it is still too early for that, said the epidemiologist who advocated tightening the “certificate rules” of vaccination, recovery or recent negative night test. . He could even suggest the abolition of free diagnostic tests (which is still the case today), so that this would be an incentive for people to be vaccinated.

He also considers that compulsory health vaccination should be considered, as is the case in France, and assures those who are fully immunized that they will not become seriously ill. For his part, researcher Stephen Turner, in an interview with the Kurier newspaper today, also warned of excessive laxity, stressing: “We need a safety shield and if vaccination coverage stops at around 60%, the risk of major outbreaks will remain. disease “.

For researcher Nicholas Popper, the current increase in numbers is not surprising, it is the logical consequence of the opening steps, and to slow down the momentum, two things must be done: “vaccinate as many people as possible and conduct a screening test,” he said in an interview. also in the Kurier newspaper. Criticizing Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz for “anesthesia,” Philip Koucher, the Social Democrat’s health chief – the main opposition party – said in a statement today that the chancellor “clearly wants to abdicate all responsibilities.” .

“If Sebastian Kurtz is now reducing the pandemic to a private affair, he is handing over to the pandemic all those who cannot be vaccinated – children under the age of 12 and people who are not allowed to be vaccinated for health reasons,” said a Social Democrat spokesman. Hans-Peter Houter, an environmental medicine specialist at the Medical University of Vienna, said in a statement to Austrian Public Radio at noon that he was in favor of “simple, smaller measures” in the summer, as “better than imposing bigger restrictions again.” movement in the fall “.

According to him – who is also a researcher at the Center for Public Health of the Medical University – one should not forget that “many have not been vaccinated yet, some will not be vaccinated and some can not even be vaccinated, so that one can only rely on in vaccination, it is actually very little. ” Hans-Peter Houter stressed the importance of the provisions and referred to the rules of vaccination certificate-recovery-negative test, noting that “apart from schools and hospitals, there are many interiors that still require attention.”

“The virus will not disappear, it will remain and we will still be concerned”

“The time has definitely come for us to relax, but on the other hand everything happened very quickly and there is still a need for certain framework conditions, which must be set by our government,” he warned. An urgent appeal to the population to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, because the number of infections in Austria will soon increase and there will be a new wave of pandemics in the country, was addressed yesterday, Monday, the Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Jürc, from Sunday 11 July for a week-long visit, the first he makes outside Europe since the outbreak of the crisis.

Speaking to Austrian journalists, the chancellor warned that “The virus will not disappear, it will remain and it will still concern us for many years and for the one who has been vaccinated the pandemic has passed, but for the one who has not been vaccinated the virus is a huge problem “.

“An increase in the number of infections, as has recently happened in the Netherlands and Southern Europe, will happen to us as well. “After a year and a half of experience, we know that this pandemic is coming in waves,” he said, announcing at the same time that he had received the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine a few days ago. The Austrian Chancellor has stressed the personal responsibility in dealing with the pandemic, while making it clear that the federal government is interested in as many vaccinated people as possible in Austria.

Sebastian Kurtz does not seem to be thinking about financial incentives for vaccinations, as he says, “so far we have bet on vaccinating those who want it”, expecting that the vaccination offer would also be accepted by those who had previously hoped that virus will disappear.