An unprecedented European decision.. General stone and mandatory vaccination of the population in Austria

Austria announced Friday that it will impose home quarantine on all its residents and will make "vaccination mandatory" from February, to be the first country in the European Union to take strict measures to this extent in light of the high number of Covid-19 infections.

"We have to be realistic," conservative Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said during a press conference in Tyrol after talks with the governors of all regions there.

A week after targeting unvaccinated people, he announced the imposition of a home quarantine on all 8.9 million citizens until December 13, stressing that "it was not easy" to make this decision.

He stressed that he understands that the authorities are asking "a lot" of vaccinators "because many did not show solidarity."

"Despite working on this for months, we did not succeed in convincing enough people to receive vaccinations," he said, noting that the intensive care units are currently facing a stressful situation.

He stressed that "the only way out of this vicious circle is to sustainably increase the vaccination rate," stressing that this is the "exit card" from the epidemic.

Although an increasing number of countries require the presentation of a health certificate for some groups, such as medical workers, very few countries in the world require vaccination for all their adult citizens.

At the weekend, Austria began imposing a home quarantine on two million unvaccinated people, with the exception of certain cases such as shopping, playing sports and receiving medical care, and it was the first European country to do so.

This measure now covers the entire population of a country where the vaccination rate is 66%, just below the European Union's rate of more than 67%.

The closure will include non-essential stores, restaurants, galleries and cinemas.

As for schools, they will remain open for the time being, but parents have been asked to keep their children at home if possible, while employees are encouraged to work remotely.

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