NEUMARKT AM WALLERSEE, Austria: Despite vaccination against COVID-19 becoming mandatory in Austria on Friday, musician Katharina Teufel-Lieli insists she wonât bow to pressure to get the jab. âI have the right to decide over my body... to simply say âno,ââ the harpist told AFP at her home in Neumarkt-am-Wallersee, not far from the western city of Salzburg.
Austria this week becomes the first European Union country to make COVID-19 vaccination legally compulsory for adults. Under the new law, those holding out against the jab can face fines of up to 3,600 euros ($4,100) from mid-March after an introductory phase. Teufel-Lieli, 49, is one of tens of thousands to have joined massive demonstrations against the law and other coronavirus-related measures since November, when plans for the legal change were announced.
The mother of six said that she used to be âapoliticalâ but the state is âoverstepping the markâ by âattacking peopleâ through this act of âtotalitarianismâ.
PARALLEL SOCIETY
Access to certain services has already been restricted since last year under government-imposed measures. Entry to restaurants, hairdressers, hotels, non-essential shops, sports and cultural venues has only been permitted since November to those who are vaccinated or recently cured. This has sparked complaints within the retail sector about staff having to act as âan auxiliary policeâ in checking vaccine passes in shops. Frustrations since the beginning of the pandemic have also led opponents to create a new political party, known by its acronym, MFG which stands for People, Freedom, Fundamental Rights. One of three MFG representatives to have already won a state legislature seat, Dagmar Haeusler, said that she just did not see the point of compulsory COVID vaccination.
âIf there was a valid reason, as with smallpox which has a mortality rate of 20 to 30 percent, we could talk about mandatory vaccination, which would benefit everyone. âBut in the case of COVID-19, I donât see the point,â the 38-year-old biomedical scientist and MFG co-founder told AFP. Demonstrators and other opponents say the measures just create a âparallel societyââwith the unvaccinated forced to do things under the radar.
According to Teufel-Lieli, there are already hairdressers willing to cater to those not vaccinated or cured, while people still have coffee together in private meet-ups, mostly organised over social networks. âIn fact, there is already this parallel community. Itâs already being built. There is already everything,â she said.
âWorrying developmentâ
The government insists the law is needed to boost the currently 72-percent vaccination rate, but says it will loosen restrictions for the unvaccinated as long as hospital capacities allow it. âOur top priority is to keep the restrictions as low as possible and only for as long as absolutely necessary,â conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who heads a coalition with the Greens, said last week.
As an incentive, a lottery solely for the vaccinated is being launched in mid-March, with 500-euro vouchers to be won. Those who donât comply with the new mandatory vaccination law can initially expect an official letter before being slapped with a fine. Checks are also to be carried out including randomly in the street.
More than 60 percent of Austrians support a vaccine mandate, according to a recent opinion poll by Public Opinion Strategies. But MFGâs co-founder Gerhard Poettler stressed it should be optional. âWe are criticised for being opponents of vaccination... (but) we want to have the choice, thatâs all. And not to face restrictions if we refuse,â the former health sector manager in his mid-40s told AFP.
Set up last year, MFG has 23,000 members and saw three representativesâincluding Haeuslerâelected to Upper Austriaâs 56-member state legislature in September. According to a December poll, six percent of Austrians said they would be ready to vote for MFG. Poettler said it was a âworrying developmentâ that shopping centres were demanding proof of vaccination or cure to enterâsometimes handing out wristbands to those allowed inâwith customers even âtelling onâ traders who donât do this. âWe are stigmatising part of the population,â he warned. â AFP