Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) is looking for a conversation with his counterparts in the fight against the new Coronavirus variant Omikron. As the Federal Chancellery announced, Schallenberg held a video conference on Tuesday with his Israeli counterpart Naftali Bennett and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. The Omikron variant has already appeared in all three countries. Together, the three prime ministers promoted rapid booster vaccinations.
“We agreed today that vaccination alone is our exit ticket from the pandemic and that a high vaccination rate is the only way out of this vicious circle,” emphasized Schallenberg. “We now have to rely primarily on booster vaccinations, because they offer the greatest possible protection, especially against serious illnesses. This is why we appeal to you and your children to be vaccinated as soon as possible. Please get them Booster vaccination if your second vaccination was more than four months ago. “
Austria, Israel and the Czech Republic belong to the group of “first movers” in the fight against pandemics. The informal group of states was set up after the first corona wave in the previous year for the purpose of exchanging experiences in the fight against the global epidemic. The heads of government of Greece, New Zealand, Australia, Costa Rica and Singapore took part in several video conferences.
These states had positioned themselves as international pioneers with specific measures – from cell phone monitoring (Israel) to the early enforcement of the mask requirement (Czech Republic) to strict quarantine regulations (Australia). Schallenberg’s predecessor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) discussed the high Austrian test rate in particular internationally.
The ex-Chancellor has to take sharp criticism today for having ended the pandemic in the summer and declared it to be a private matter. With reference to the availability of the vaccination, he drew comparisons with sports accidents and an unhealthy diet in interviews and also seemed to accept the scenario of a massive increase in the number of infections to over 10,000 cases daily. Schallenberg is the first European head of government in the fourth wave of corona who had to send his country into lockdown. And the subject of vaccination as a private matter has also been dealt with. Austria was the first EU country to announce a general vaccination requirement.