End of ‘Corona Apartheid’: Austria’s Unvaxxed Lockdown Ends Today

Austria’s unjabbed have finally been granted a little bit of freedom, with the nation’s ‘Corona Apartheid’ lockdown of the unvaccinated ending today.

A little bit of freedom has been regained by Austria’s unvaccinated today, as the nation’s “Corona Apartheid” lockdown of unjabbed individuals ends today.

This is despite the Austrian government initially claiming that the lockdown of unjabbed individuals would go on in perpetuity, though some harsh restrictions will nevertheless remain in place.

According to a report by Kronen Zeitung, unvaccinated individuals will be allowed to exercise outdoors “without good reason” from today, as well as visit friends without fear of legal repercussions.

However, with the maintenance of the nation’s strict “2G” vaccine pass rules, unjabbed individuals will still be refused service in bars and restaurants, while also remaining barred from entering non-essential retail.

The unjabbed — who make up roughly 17 per cent of Austria’s population according to Kronen Zeitung — are also reportedly still banned from attending events in the country.

While Austria’s Chancellor and Health Minister agreed to loosen the asymmetrical lockdown rules — which had previously been described as “Corona Apartheid” by one critic — as a result of decreasing hospitalisations, the nation remains on track to implement mandatory vaccination.

The german-speaking state’s parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of legislation that would force all over-18s to receive a COVID vaccine earlier this month, with the rules set to come into force from February.

Under the measures, those who refuse to get jabbed against the Chinese Coronavirus will face fines of up to €3,600.

Forced vaccination remains controversial within the country, with thousands frequently taking to the nation’s streets to protest the measure.

It has also garnered criticism from within government institutions, with multitudes of police officers within the state coming out against the measure.

One open letter, which was reportedly signed on behalf of around 600 officers, called on Austria’s Interior Minister to put an ent to “discrimination of unvaccinated [police] colleagues”.

However, the nation’s Department of the Interior rejected the calls.

“With around 85 per cent vaccination rate for the 32,000 police officers we can say on the part of the Interior Ministry that the measures to contain the pandemic are being implemented by the executive are very well received and implemented,” read a statement from the department.