UNREST

Nearly 50,000 People Protest Austria’s Vaccine Mandate

Austria’s new vaccination obligation was met with anger from tens of thousands of protesters.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Vienna on Saturday to protest Austria’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Austria, with about 68 percent of its population vaccinated, is the first European nation to implement such a measure; those who have not yet been vaccinated are subject to home confinement orders. As reported by Al Jazeera, about 44,000 demonstrators turned out to argue the vaccination mandate is a threat to democracy, with signs reading, among other things, “no to vaccine fascism.”

The policy will go into effect in February and essentially requires all Austrian citizens who are at least 15 years old, exempting those with health reasons, to get fully vaccinated. The first fee for violating the mandate is 600 euros and can be compounded with an additional penalty of 3,600 euros. Though the mandate is outlined as obligatory, officials have assured Austrians that they won’t be jabbed by force.