“It is unbearable that we now have to demand the next act of solidarity,” admitted Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg in ZiB 2. Actually, he doesn’t want to live in a country where everything has to be done with compulsion. In this context, Schallenberg also apologized to all those vaccinated for the government’s lack of crisis management: “No crisis management is error-free. But yes, I would like to apologize: To those people who did everything right. It is unreasonable that we are in the situation, I am sorry. “
The lockdown was a step that he had to take “with a heavy heart”. After all, 65 percent of Austrians “did exactly what they should have done according to the federal government”. For him it is only “difficult to bear” that they have to make this sacrifice now, just because not all of them have vaccinated.
“We have trusted for too long that people would discover for themselves that it is better to be vaccinated,” said Schallenberg, defending the mandatory vaccination announced for February 1, 2022. A vaccination requirement is a profound cut that should remain an exception. Schallenberg could not answer the age at which the vaccination is mandatory and what penalties there should be. He referred to the experts who would have to work it out first.
