Austria hits panic button.

Could they not charge the unvaccinated for healthcare if they catch COVID instead as an incentive?

I know two staunch anti-vaxxers here who both got vaccinated so they could go to the pub. And they held out so long before that pub problem :)

In this pandemic, if someone is willfully unvaccinated they are putting not just themselves, but others at increased risk. You, your family, your older relatives, etc. That's the key point, it's not about themselves, it's that they are affecting other people. Unvaccinated Covid patients are also taking up proportionally far more hospital beds and ICU beds and medical resources than vaccinated Covid patients.

They aren't to "blame" for the pandemic, they are not to "blame" for rapidly increasing cases, but their selfishness is of no benefit to the majority of the public and the health resources that we all have to share.

That is orthogonal to the point I have made.

It doesn't follow that someone should have no legal rights because a personal choice they've made is adjudged to have "no benefit" to their country's centrally managed hospital system.

Compulsory vaccination is not a wise response to public scepticism of vaccination.

These very crude methods will yield strange fruit.

Ironically compulsory vaccination is becoming a thing because of anti-vaxxers.

People are queuing up to get vaccinated now in Austria, if that's the "strange fruit", then good.

If you have heart disease, for example, and you are overweight refuse to lose weight, drink and smoke but refuse to stop, then the HSE will discontinue your treatment.

Where unvaccinated put people at risk isn't necessarily down to Covid, it's because if I suddenly have a massive heart attack on my way home this evening and need to go to ICU, it's highly unlikely there will be a place for me there because so many of the ICU beds are being taken up with treating Covid cases.

Or if I were someone who was due to undergo cancer treatment, it is highly likely my scan appointments will be cancelled for the foreseeable because of the high incidence of Covid within hospitals. As a result the cancer could unknowingly take hold and, by the time they eventually get around to detecting it, I could be beyond treatment.

Unvaccinated are already indirectly financially hit through having to pay for PCR and antigen tests when travelling.

Then they are disadvantaged by exclusion from various places.

However piling up legal disadvantages past a certain point only discourages vaccination, as it serves as confirmation that people are up against a hostile system.

Good point re treatment, perhaps there’s a strong argument that we should end treatment for any unvaccinated Covid patients?

I understand that it’s the care requirement that makes Covid so dangerous for our health service but my post was pointing out that by extending that logic all of the other risk factors are also impacting out hospital and ICU capacity so shouldn’t we also look to eliminate those factors while we are at it with Covid?

Heavily taxed, yes but not outlawed as being unvaccinated is going to be in Austria, if outlawing one is fair game then why not the others?

And the current system is certainly set up to make being vaccinated the smarter financial choice with the likes of 150e for a 72hr Covid pass via a PCR test.

There's no argument for deliberately refusing to treat patients.

Our hospitals are named after Christian saints and based on mercy and charity, they aren't toys for dictators and people who wish they were dictators to play with.

If I found you dying in a ditch would it be okay if I left you there because you'd said or done something I didn't approve of?

Any tips on cooking Schnitzel?

Ah they didn’t even give the mandatory PCR testing for nightlife a go in the end. Was eager to see how that would play out.

Anyway now with the country officially in lockdown, I wonder will Ryanair have to reimburse me now for my flight to Vienna next month. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my money back from them, or even a voucher I’d be ok with.

Up until recently there was no argument for making this vaccine a legal requirement and thereby scrapping any principles of bodily autonomy. Times are changing but you think the line should be drawn at the treatment stage?

I’ll leave the religious part out of it.

As I said to another poster, not only is it wrong to deny treatment to some patients - you'd be forcing doctors and nurses to deliberately let people die right in front of them, which is also wrong but in fact it wouldn't happen.

People with a technocratic mindset seem to think they are moving chess pieces around a board. "Oh yes we'll deny treatment to group x" It doesn't work like that.

Who gets a kidney transplant first

An alcoholic or a non drinker?