Vienna: Austria’s president on Friday signed a law making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for all adults, a first in the European Union.
It applies to all adults, except pregnant women and those with a medical exemption. Those holding out can face fines of up to 3,600 euros ($4,100) after mid-March following an "introductory phase".
President Alexander Van der Bellen signed the law after parliament approved it, his office said. It was published in the official gazette and will come into force on Saturday.
Tens of thousands have demonstrated against mandatory vaccination in regular weekend rallies across the country since the measure was announced in November. But it has broad political support -- with all parties except the far-right rallying behind it -- in a bid to drive up the country’s vaccination rate.
Currently, 69 percent of Austrian residents have certificates that they are fully protected against the coronavirus -- including a booster for those whose shots were more than six months ago.
Austria has to date seen more than 14,000 Covid-related deaths and close to 2 million cases in a population of nine million. As elsewhere, Omicron has sent cases spiralling in recent weeks, but hospitals have not been overwhelmed so far.
Compulsory vaccinations against Covid are rare though Ecuador, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Indonesia and Micronesia have introduced such schemes.Meanwhile, Spain will end the mandatory use of face masks outdoors on February 8, a minister said Friday, ending a measure reimposed in late December to tackle a surge in Omicron cases.
The measure will be approved at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, Health Minister Carolina Darias told Cadena Ser radio. Spain first imposed obligatory mask-wearing outdoors in May 2020, but lifted it in June last year, although wearing a face covering was still required for indoor public spaces.
"For several weeks now, we have seen how all the indicators are improving, day-by-day," Darias said, referring to the incidence rate and pressure on hospitals. In recent weeks, many of Spain’s regions have moved to ease restrictions that were tightened in the face of Omicron, with the northeastern Catalonia region dropping as ineffective the requirement to show a Covid passport to enter restaurants, bars and gyms.
The region has also dropped a nighttime curfew along with capacity restrictions in bars and restaurants, and will reopen its nightlife venues on February 11. Despite high levels of vaccination in Spain, Covid cases exploded in Spain over the Christmas holidays, giving it one of Europe’s highest incidence rates, although that has now fallen.
Meantime, Greece will no longer require travellers with European vaccine passports to undergo Covid-19 tests before entering the country, from next week, the health minister said Friday. "As of Monday, those with active European (vaccination) certificates will enter without obligatory testing," Health Minister Thanos Plevris said in a televised statement. Greece has followed several other EU countries in relaxing pandemic restrictions as it aims for a 4.5-percent spurt of economic growth this year.