Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) considers Austria well prepared for the start of the cold season. With the wastewater monitoring and the dashboard for monitoring severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), the government has “a better overview than a year ago,” the minister said at a press conference in Vienna on Monday. At the same time, he recommended vaccinations against corona, flu and the RS virus.
There is currently a slight increase in the number of infections, Rauch explains about the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The wastewater monitoring shows that “we are at approximately the same level as in April this year”. This increase was also expected after school started. Covid admissions to hospitals are increasing, “but at a low level” and currently fewer than 200 people are affected, including single digits in intensive care units, as Rauch highlighted. Recently, people hospitalized with Covid have mainly been people over the age of 60.
Rauch assured that hospitals are not expected to become overwhelmed. With Corona there is an “adapted vaccine with high effectiveness”, medication and basic immunity in the population. Tests are still available from doctors and pharmacies. “This regular operation does not mean that you are flying blind,” Rauch emphasized. Wastewater monitoring has been expanded to 48 sewage treatment plants and variant sequencing continues in addition to the SARI dashboard. A mask requirement is not being considered, but he recommends it for close contacts. “The mask is not a torture device,” but rather to protect yourself and others, Rauch said.
Rauch is critical of too long waiting times for corona vaccinations
He assumes that Covid vaccination among practicing doctors ‘will now get underway after the initial difficulties’. This is “currently unsatisfactory”. Speaking to journalists, Rauch also raised the issue of vaccinations in pharmacies, which was rejected by the medical profession. “We have a large number of pharmacies in Austria that can offer this. If it doesn’t work in the private sector, then we have to organize it there,” said the Green politician. In any case, waiting 14 days for the corona vaccination from doctors is too long, “it just has to be faster.”
“No one has to wait weeks for an appointment,” assured Edgar Wutscher, chairman of the Federal Curia for doctors in the medical association, in the Ö1 “Mittagsjournal”. In some cases, only the vaccine is missing. He only found out through the media that it was possible to be vaccinated, but the doctors have now ordered the new vaccine.
There are plans to expand the vaccination program to include RSV
Katharina Reich, Director General of Public Health, announced that the flu vaccine is expected in Austria around October 10. The flu and RSV season only starts later in the year, while an increase in Corona was already visible in the summer of the previous year. “Our goal is to expand the vaccination program beyond Covid and flu,” Rauch said when asked about the new RSV vaccination. That is part of the financial equalization, but a matter of cost assumption. The RSV vaccination is recommended for people aged 60 and over, but privately you have to pay around 275 euros.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
