Vaccination against coronavirus will become a legal requirement from February, the Austrian chancellor Alexander Schallenberg has announced. The country is also going back into full lockdown, becoming the first western European nation to reimpose blanket Covid-19 closures. From Monday 22 November, vaccinated and unvaccinated alike will be under restrictions as non-essential shops, as well as bars and restaurants, close.
The announcement comes as Austria battles a winter wave of cases that is straining hospital systems, in common with much of Europe. It registered a record high of 14,416 cases on 18 November, with the seven-day incidence at 925 cases per 100,000 people.
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