Austria’s Parliament Approves COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

People protest at a rally, against coronavirus-related restrictions and a coming vaccination mandate in Innsbruck, Austria, on Jan. 9, 2022. Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images

Austria’s parliament has approved a COVID-19 vaccine mandate that will require adults aged 18 and over to be fully vaccinated against the CCP virus.

The upper house of Austria’s parliament voted 47 to 12 late on Feb. 3, after a vote in the lower chamber on Jan. 20 to greenlight the requirement.

The sweeping measure will undergo the formality of being signed by Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Karl Nehammer before it can be enacted, causing Austria to become Europe’s first-ever country to make COVID-19 vaccines compulsory for nearly all adults.

The government has long announced it intended the mandate to take effect at the beginning of February. Once the measure does take effect, authorities will write to every household to inform them of the new regulation.

“Today is an important day,” Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein said during the parliamentary debate. With the vaccine mandate, he said Austria ”isn’t simply reacting, but we are taking a forward-looking and active step.”

Austrian Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein addresses a press conference in Pertisau, Tyrol, Austria, on Nov. 19, 2021. Johann Groder/EXPA/AFP via Getty Images

There will be no checks until March 15, when police officers will start conducting routine patrols to verify people’s vaccination status. At a later phase—once a vaccination register is up and running—more thorough checks will begin; the date for this third phase is not yet specified as of Feb. 3.

People who cannot produce proof they have been vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, will be asked to do so in writing, and will be fined up to 600 euros ($676) if they don’t.

The vaccine mandate comes as the country is lifting a sweeping lockdown that barred the COVID-19 unvaccinated from entering shops, restaurants, and other public areas.

Some areas will continue their lockdown, including in Vienna, where proof of vaccination or COVID-19 recovery will be required to enter restaurants, Mayor Michael Ludwig announced on Feb. 3.

Nehammer previously said that the lockdown for the unvaccinated, which was in effect since November 2021, was no longer needed because there was no threat of hospital intensive care units being overstretched.

Nehammer said in January that if authorities deem the country’s vaccination rate to be insufficient, they would send reminders to people who are unvaccinated. If the vaccination rates still won’t budge, people would receive an unsolicited vaccination appointment and be fined if they don’t take up on it.

Fines could reach 3,600 euros ($4,116) if people contest their penalties and full proceedings are opened.

About 69 percent of Austria’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19—among the lowest vaccination rates in western Europe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.