Vienna, Dec. 26, (dpa/GNA) – The first Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination doses against Covid-19 arrived in Austria on Friday night.
The delivery came from Belgium via Germany, the authorities announced.
The approximately 10,000 doses were brought from the border crossing in Suben in Upper Austria to a warehouse in Vienna under police escort.
As in several other European Union countries, Austria’s vaccination campaign is to begin on Sunday, initially for residents of old people’s and nursing homes over 80 years of age.
A tightened lockdown with restrictions around the clock on going outside also came into force on Saturday.
Shops with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies and drug stores are to be closed until January 17. However, the shops can hand over ordered goods to people collecting them.
Hairdressers and many other service providers are closed, as are cultural and leisure facilities.
The number of new infections had already decreased significantly in the last few days and as calculated per 100,000 inhabitants was below the values in neighbouring Germany, for example.
GNA