Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced last week that COVID-19 vaccines would be mandatory starting Feb. 1, 2022, because the government has “not succeeded in convincing enough people to get vaccinated.” The move appeared to prompt Bavarian premier Markus Soder to say that German officials should impose a similar vaccine requirement. …But Heiko Maas, Germany’s foreign minister and top member of the Social Democrats, said Friday that Austria-style vaccine mandates “won’t happen.” …Last week, officials initially placed millions of people who aren’t fully vaccinated on lockdown, a measure that has now increased to the whole population regardless of vaccination status. Schallenberg said the lockdown and vaccination requirement is needed to avoid a “fifth wave,” referring to an increase of cases in the past week.
