“Back to normalcy” – Tyrol’s new medical director against mandatory corona vaccination

The latter will also not be necessary given the extensive contamination that has already occurred after the spring and summer – unless a particularly aggressive and contagious corona variant emerges again, Kastner told the APA. The vaccination requirement, on the other hand, makes no sense – at least not until there is a modified vaccine and the drama of the situation demands it. This was already the case before the omicron wave, when there was hardly any other option than to vaccinate more, Kastner showed understanding for the procedure at the time. But in the course of Omikron, it was finally determined: “We will not get out of trouble there”.

In addition, Kastner referred to data protection issues that would accompany the introduction of mandatory vaccination. In addition, many people would probably accept a fine – then stricter sanctions would be needed again.

Treat coronavirus like the flu
In any case, the chairman of the Tyrolean Medical Association argued in favor of tackling the coronavirus as flu in the future – if a more dangerous corona variant does not occur. He saw the conditions for this as given: many had already gone through the infection. For the risk group, it is good to recommend a booster vaccination, for everyone else there is enough to increase immunity – if desired.

Instead of a quarantine prescribed by the state, common sense and personal responsibility should be invoked, which was also true in pre-Corona times: “If someone is sick, he or she stays at home, so to speak. in self-imposed quarantine. Like with the flu. If I’m not very good with each other, I can put on a mask to protect others.” Here and there, wearing a mask can still be mandatory in the autumn – especially in the health sector, and if the worst happens in public too. transport.

“Step by step” back to normality
Otherwise, Kastner agreed with the federal government’s approach to slowly abolish the measures. This has to be done “step by step”. You need to get back to full normalcy – “but with well-prepared roadmaps for certain possible scenarios in the drawer,” the surgeon general emphasized.

In any case, if measures are reintroduced, such as the mask requirement, it should not be the case that “six full days” will pass before a settlement is available – if only because it takes a long time for political votes to be taken for a text which is not too long, which should have already finished. “I was shocked that there were no plans in the drawer for certain scenarios,” said the head of the Tyrolean Medical Association, which recently succeeded Artur Wechselberger after 32 years in office.

“False security created”
As for the tests, Kastner argued in favor of limiting them to the diagnostic field in the future, ie offering and performing them in GPs or in hospitals. In “potentially ill people” a smear must be taken and it must be determined whether corona or another viral infection such as flu is present. The extensive tests, which are particularly common in Austria and cost three billion euros, in any case did not lead to the desired success. Among other things, a false security was created.

After more than two years, it is time for the chairman of the Tyrolean Medical Association to develop a sober view of Corona: “The crisis mode must be abandoned”. He has sometimes gotten the impression that it was also sometimes politically desirable to let the subject simmer in the media to distract something from other matters.