On Thursday, Germany announced a plan for a lockdown for unvaccinated people in the country as some officials push the idea of forced vaccinations.
As reported by CNN:
Unvaccinated people will be banned from accessing all but the most essential businesses, such as supermarkets and pharmacies, to curb the spread of coronavirus, outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor, Olaf Scholz, announced Thursday, following crisis talks with regional leaders. Those who have recently recovered from Covid-19 are not covered by the ban.The pair also backed proposals for mandatory vaccinations, which if voted through the parliament could take effect from February at the earliest.
The outlet noted that with the new intensified restrictions, unvaccinated people can only get together with two people from a different household. “Bars and nightclubs must shut down in areas with an incidence rate above 350 cases per 100,000 people over one week. And the country would limit the number of people at large events like soccer matches,” CNN reported.
“We have understood that the situation is very serious and that we want to take further measures in addition to those already taken,” Merkel told the press at a news conference Thursday.
“The fourth wave must be broken and this has not yet been achieved,” she added.
The move comes a week after Germany’s health minister issued a warning to German citizens that they’ll either be “vaccinated, recovered or dead” by the conclusion of the oncoming winter.
“By the end of this winter everyone in Germany will either be vaccinated, recovered or dead,” Jens Spahn told a news conference in Berlin, as reported by BBC News.
According to data from Worldometers on December 2nd, there have been 5,978,964 coronavirus cases in Germany and 102,669 total deaths.
Other countries in Europe intensely responded to the rise in cases prior to the panic caused by the new Omicron variant of the virus.
Earlier this month, Austria headed into another national lockdown that was set to last for at least 10 days as it also announced plans to mandate COVID-19 vaccination starting in February.
As reported by The Guardian:
The age from which people will be required to be vaccinated has not yet been determined, the government said.
Those refusing to be vaccinated are likely to face administrative fines, which can be converted into a prison sentence if the fine cannot be recovered.
“For a long time the consensus in this country was that we don’t want a vaccine mandate,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said. “In spite of months of persuasion, we have not managed to convince enough people to be vaccinated.”
CNN reported:
Asked by CNN from what age the mandatory vaccination order would apply, the Austrian Chancellory said: “Details are still to come, from what age and when you are considered fully vaccinated.”
Austrian Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein said Friday that schools and kindergartens would remain open during the upcoming national lockdown.
On Wednesday, the first case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was detected in the United States, but the person has only been showing mild symptoms.
As reported by The Daily Wire, Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters at the White House Wednesday that the Omicron variant has been found in a person in California. The person had recently returned from South Africa, according to the Associated Press.
“We knew it was just a matter of time before the first case of omicron would be detected in the United States,” said Fauci.
“CA’s large-scale testing and early detection systems have found the Omicron COVID-19 variant in California. We should assume that it’s in other states as well,” Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom tweeted. “There’s no reason to panic — but we should remain vigilant. That means get vaccinated. Get boosted. Wear a mask indoors.”