The moves come as vaccinations in Austria have plateaued at one of the lowest rates in Western Europe, and as hospitals in heavily hit states have warned that their intensive care units are reaching capacity. France required health care workers to get the vaccine , and Britain recently announced a similar rule for health staff who work with the public. Austria’s intensive care doctors also welcomed the government’s decision, warning that it was only a matter of time before their wards are swamped. “The record infection figures that we have now experienced day after day will only be reflected in normal and intensive care units with a time lag. It really is high time for a full stop,” Walter Hasibeder, the president of the Society for Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine, told Austrian news agency APA.
