Austria will regret mandatory vaccinations

So, Austria’s experiment to persuade more people to get vaccinated by placing the unvaccinated in lockdown didn’t last long. A week, to be precise. From Monday, the entire country will be placed under stay at home orders and other restrictions — this, after it seemed that the era of lockdowns was over. But perhaps more significantly is Austria’s announcement this morning that from 1 February next year Covid vaccination will be compulsory, with large fines for those who refuse to be jabbed.

Remarkably, in doing so, Alexander Schallenberg’s government is taking a step that even the Chinese Communist party considered going a bit too far — back in April, when some regional governments were trying to impose compulsory vaccination on their populations, the central government ordered them to stop. Austria will join a tiny number of countries that have attempted to mandate vaccination — including Indonesia, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, although the latter two have not actually enforced compulsory vaccination with any sanction, financial or otherwise.