France and Austria have modeled two very different ways of encouraging people to get vaccinated.
For a while, during the worst of the pandemic last year, European governments largely seemed to reach a consensus. Barring a few exceptions (such as Sweden), countries in the region locked down their economies, keeping people at home in a bid to slow the pace of infection. In time, bolstered by plentiful vaccines, the continent has seen a resumption of near-normalcy: Public-health restrictions have loosened, and travel has restarted. But as temperatures drop, and as rising cases place Europe back in the epicenter of the pandemic, the continent is once again being forced to grapple with tougher measures in a desperate bid to alleviate pressure on hospitals that are coming under strain. This time, however, European countries are no longer in broad agreement on the best path forward. While several countries have followed France’s lead by implementing vaccine passports as a way to encourage people to get vaccinated, others are poised to follow the alternative recently set out by Austria, which this week instructed millions to stay home except for essential activities, such as going to work, grocery shopping, and exercise. Unlike previous national lockdowns, however, this one applied to only a subset of the country: the unvaccinated. Yesterday, the Austrian government took it one step further, announcing that restrictions would extend to the rest of the population for a maximum of 20 days starting next week and that vaccination would become obligatory as early as February. The goal of both models is ultimately the same—to get more people vaccinated—but the differences are key. In France, vaccination is strongly encouraged, though not necessarily required. Under its vaccine-passport system, those who are unvaccinated can still access public spaces if they can provide proof of having recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection, or a negative COVID test. In Austria, the opposite has now become true: Not only are unvaccinated people (excluding those who have recently recovered from COVID and children under the age of 12) poised to be barred from public spaces even after the national lockdown ends, facing fines of up to 1,450 euros ($1,640) if they fail to comply, but they will soon be subject to legal repercussions if they refuse to get a jab. The question facing governments in Europe and elsewhere is which approach—carrot versus stick—will prove the most effective. By singling out the unvaccinated, Austria may succeed in increasing its vaccination rate, but it also runs the risk of driving vaccine skepticism even further.
