The aim of the measures, which will last 10 days, is to take the pressure off the country’s health services and hospitals.

As of November 13, Our World in Data reported that 63.4 percent of Austrian citizens had been fully vaccinated. In terms of real numbers, that is about 5.7 million people.

It leaves 36.6 percent of Austria’s roughly 9 million citizens not fully vaccinated. Taking out the country’s population of around 1.7 million children, who currently don’t require a vaccination, that leaves around 2 million Austrian citizens not fully vaccinated against COVID. It is these people who will be impacted by the new lockdown.

When compared to global vaccination rates, Austria seems to be doing quite well. As of November 13, only 41 percent of the world’s population had been fully vaccinated.

It’s when Austria’s rate is compared to those of the rest of western Europe that the country begins to lag behind. The country is just behind the 66.1 percent average for the whole of the European Union.

Close neighbor Germany is currently reporting that 66.9 percent of its population in fully vaccinated. Portugal leads the way in terms of vaccinations in Europe, reporting that as of November 11, around 88 percent of the population was fully vaccinated. Spain is in a similarly strong position with vaccinations, reporting that 80 percent of its population has been fully vaccinated.

Austria also trails Italy in terms of vaccinations, which says that almost 73 percent of its population is fully vaccinated, and Belgium with around 74 percent of its population having received two doses of a COVID vaccine.

U.S. Vaccination Rate Is Lower

Austria is ahead of the Czech republic, where just 57.6 percent of the population were fully vaccinated as of November 12. Outside Europe, Austria is also ahead of the United States in terms of vaccinations, with Our World in Data reporting that currently under 58 percent of the U.S population is fully vaccinated.

According to Our World in Data, cases of COVID are on the rise across Europe, going from around 103 cases per million people on September 27, to around 378 cases per million on November 14.

For Austria, the rise in cases has been particularly sharp, going from just 10 cases per million people on June 28, to around 1,200 cases per million on November 14.

Per million people, Belgium is currently reporting around 863 cases, Germany around 438 cases, Italy 115 cases, and Spain just 66 cases.

The figure is also well ahead of the United States, which is currently reporting around 247 COVID cases per million people.

New Lockdown Measures

Both the U.S. and Austria are currently reporting around three deaths a day from COVID for every million people.

The introduction of lockdown measures for unvaccinated Austrians hasn’t been without controversy. The BBC reported that over the weekend hundreds of people protested the move in the capital of Vienna.

The country had already introduced measures to limit the movement of unvaccinated adults. On November 5, those who weren’t fully vaccinated against COVID were barred from public spaces such as cafes, restaurants and hairdressers.

The BBC reported that children under the age of 12 and people who have recently recovered from the virus will be exempt from the restrictions.