The review process of the law for compulsory vaccination broke a record. By the end of the Monday midnight deadline, 108,325 opinions – more than ever before – had arrived on the House’s website, the parliamentary correspondence reported. The majority of this came from private individuals, who often expressed their protest against the project in identical texts. The Chamber of Commerce advocates postponing the compulsory vaccination.
The statements will now be sent to the health department. Overall, never before had so many comments on a legislative proposal in the Parliamentary Directorate, it said. There will still be enough opportunities to discuss this matter on January 17th in the health committee, where the draft for the COVID-19 mandatory vaccination law will be dealt with in the form of a word-for-word initiative from the ÖVP and the Greens as part of a public expert hearing. To date, there have also been almost 77,000 statements on this.
There were not only protests of the same name but also actual detailed criticism in the assessment process. For example, the statement by ELGA GmbH caused a stir, according to which the technical implementation of the mandatory vaccination would not be possible until April at the earliest. However, the government continues to insist on introducing the measure at the beginning of February.
There had also been criticism from the administrative judiciary. Due to the expected complaints, for example against penalties, one was not adequately staffed, it was said in various statements. The federal states, above all Vienna, fear immense administrative effort and thus high costs. The federal government would greatly underestimate this, it said in the Tyrolean statement.
The social partners spoke up together. In a joint preamble, to which the Chamber of Commerce refers in its opinion, employers and employees advocate a step-by-step approach of information, advice and incentives to increase the vaccination rate. The Chamber of Commerce explicitly points out that the statutory stipulation of mandatory vaccination can only be the last resort and is currently recommending postponing the entry into force of mandatory vaccination.
The former party leader of the Greens and now animal welfare advisor in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Madeleine Petrovic, gave a statement that is unlikely to hit the nerve in her department. For example, she warned of alleged side effects of the vaccination. Petrovic had already caused a stir after she had greetings at a rally by the anti-vaccination party MFG.