Austria prioritizes testing over vaccination to mitigate COVID-19 infection

While states across the world are battling to secure vaccine doses, Austria has put its faith in testing to minimize COVID-19 infection in the country. Starting March 1, Austrian authorities are distributing coronavirus tests to its 8.8 million residents, totally free of cost.  While the country is currently under lockdown, the measure they believe could help revive the businesses.

Speaking to media reporters in Vienna, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz asserted that with increased testing, they aim to control the incidences of coronavirus infection or at least mitigate the infection rate in the country. “We were on our way to becoming world champion,” he further quipped. The country, which has reported 460,849 positive cases till now has previously expressed its ire towards the European Union (EU)’s slow vaccine rollout.

Austria’s new move comes in contrast with that of other European nations which have focused more on Immunization than testing. The UK is the continent’s vaccination leader and has administered at least one vaccine jab on a minimum of 20 million residents. Meanwhile, Austria’s immediate neighbour Germany has also stepped up its immunization drive.

As of now, Austria has vaccinated over 500,000 people with 200,000 out of them receiving both doses. In March, the landlocked country is expecting a delivery of more than one million doses. The second quarter of 2021 should provide Austria three times the delivery volume of the first quarter. As a part of the EU, the country has approved three vaccine candidates as now- Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca/OxfordUniversity.

Read: Austria Warns Against Tyrol Travel Amid Variant Outbreak

Read: Germany Tightens Border Controls With Austria, Czech

Austria's economy drops 

Austria has contributed the most to the EU's economy crash as its economy dropped by a whopping 4.3%, while France saw a degrowth of -1.3%. Europe's biggest economy Germany's GDP grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to Eurostat's estimate. The COVID-19-induced lockdowns have ravaged most parts of the world since the pandemic began earlier last year, but Europe, a region largely dependent on tourism, suffered the most inflicting wounds among all other major economies. 

Most recently, the lockdowns were reimposed after new variants of the COVID-19 virus were detected in the region, which forced countries to shut down non-essential services to prevent the rapid spread of the disease. Several EU nations have also restricted international travel, even for citizens who reside within the bloc.

Read: Vienna Zoo Reopens As Austria Eases Lockdown Measures

Read: European Economy Shrinks In Q4 2020, Austria, Italy Record Biggest Plunge

Image Credits: AP