Austrian chancellor suspects secret contracts signed at vaccine bazaar behind unequal jab distribution in EU – Voice Of Vienna voiceofvienna.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from voiceofvienna.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Follow RT on Covid-19 jabs are being distributed unevenly between EU member states, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said, pointing to “secret contracts” signed at a “vaccine bazaar” with big pharma by the bloc’s vaccination steering board.
“Deliveries are not happening in line with population,” Kurz told a press conference organized at short notice on Friday. He added that the situation would likely be
“exacerbated in the coming months” and said the differences between member states could become
“even greater.”
The chancellor said that delivery data for the jabs showed some strange differences in how vaccination campaigns are proceeding in different states. He said he had discussed the issue with officials from Belgium, Greece, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
The Ibizagate affair featured the leader of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), Heinz-Christian Strache, being covertly filmed in a villa on the Balearic island touting lucrative business concessions in exchange for funding to a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch. The scandal ended the FPÖ’s stint as Kurz’s coalition partner and forced Strache’s resignation as vice chancellor.
Ultimately, Ibizagate did little political damage to Kurz. He was freed from his controversial alliance with the FPÖ, won the subsequent election and was able to form a new government with the more wholesome Green Party as his junior partner.
Türkis-blaue Kontroverse um System Kurz - Misstrauensantrag wienerzeitung.at - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wienerzeitung.at Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Austrian government ends lockdown despite spread of coronavirus variant
On February 8, Austria’s black-green (conservative-green) coalition government ended entirely what had only been mild lockdown measures. This means that schools and commerce will be fully open despite the fact that infection and death rates remain high and very contagious viral variants are rapidly spreading in the country.
The number of new infections remains elevated. On Friday, 1,731 cases were reported, with a seven-day incidence continuously above 100 per 100,000 population. Over 432,000 people have already been infected with COVID-19 in a country of 8.8 million; 8,195 people have died from it as of Sunday. The situation in clinics remains tense despite recent declines in caseload.