Austria tweaks vaccine mandate plan, to come in next month

BERLIN (AP) — The Austrian government on Sunday presented revised plans for its proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which it said will now apply to all residents age 18 and over, rather than 14 as originally intended. Officials said that a phased introduction will give people plenty of opportunity to comply.

The government announced nearly two months ago that it would implement a general vaccine mandate early this year, becoming the first European country to do so. In early December, it produced a first draft, calling for the measure to be introduced in February and foreseeing fines of up to 3,600 euros ($4,100) for people who flout it.

Key aspects of the plan remain in the final version, which the government aims to have parliament approve on Thursday, but officials said consultations with two opposition parties and others showed the need for significant changes to details. Chancellor Karl Nehammer said there had been concern about teenagers being punished, hence the change in the lower age limit.

The bill “is conceived in such a way that it responds to the flexibility of the virus,” Nehammer told reporters in Vienna.

The plan is for the vaccine mandate to become law at the beginning of February. In the first phase, authorities will write to every household to inform them of the new rules. Pregnant women and people who for medical reasons can't be vaccinated will be exempted; so will people who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection in the past six months.

From mid-March, police will start checking people's vaccination status during routine checks; people who can't produce proof of vaccination will be asked in writing to do so, and will be fined up to 600 euros ($685) if they don't.

If authorities judge vaccination progress still to be insufficient, they would then...