DW News published this video item, entitled “Thousands protest Austria’s COVID lockdown for the unvaccinated | DW News” – below is their description.
Austria went into a new pandemic lockdown at midnight on Sunday night – but only for its unvaccinated population. It’s in response to a record surge in COVID-19 cases that the government says threatens to overwhelm intensive care units. For ten days, millions of people will be required to stay at home – unless their journey is deemed essential. Crowds took to the streets of the capital, Vienna, to protest what they say is a vaccine mandate by the back door.
They chanted for their freedom outside a fortified Chancellery – but under the new measures they will have to stay home.
The protestors were there to make their hostility to the new lockdown heard. But in a country entering a fourth wave of the COVID pandemic – not all are opposed.
Speaking on Sunday the country’s Interior Minister Karl Nehammer had a stern warning to the Austrian people.
63 percent of the population have currently had both jabs, with Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg calling on those still unvaccinated to take up the offer of a shot.
Those who currently haven’t received two jabs will only be permitted to leave their homes for work and carry out essential tasks such as shopping and attending medical appointments.
The announcement follows a record surge in COVID infections and government concerns hospitals could become overwhelmed.
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