Unless the health authorities postpone the announced date again, vaccinations for the flying personnel of Austrian Airlines will start on May 6, 2021. This was actually aimed at about four weeks ago, but Lower Austria was behind with the national Covid vaccination plan at the time.

The consequence of this was that the people in phase III, which also includes employees of transport companies and people with increased professional activity abroad, were not yet on the scene. Therefore, the state of Lower Austria had to cancel and postpone the AUA vaccinations. From May 6, 2021, the time has come for the flying employees of Austrian Airlines, provided that the responsible authority does not cancel at short notice.

According to reports, the vaccine from Moderna should primarily be used. Austrian Airlines neither wanted to confirm nor deny this information. The choice of the vaccine is made by the responsible health authority. Other vaccines approved in Austria are those from Biontech / Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

A spokesman for Austrian Airlines told Aviation Direct: “We are currently planning to start vaccinating our flying personnel on May 6, 2021. This is of course subject to the reservation that the dates can be postponed if the vaccine is not available. In phase 3 of the vaccination plan, which starts in May, a prioritization of people with "professionally essential cross-border travel" is provided. That is the case with our flying personnel. We also anticipate that individual countries will soon be able to issue entry bans for people without a vaccination. For this reason, a timely vaccination is important for this part of our staff. "

Company vaccinations start in Vienna

In the state of Vienna, so-called company vaccinations started on Monday. These proceed according to a clear scheme so that those professions that have direct customer contact can be immunized first. Depending on the size of the company, appointments can be made in the centers of the City of Vienna or the company can even set up its own vaccination line for its employees. In any case, this is done under the supervision of the competent authority.

In the rest of Austria, company vaccinations will also start shortly. Among other things, Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) announced that the staff in supermarkets should be vaccinated in May 2021. First priority are those professions that are exposed to an increased risk of infection. However, implementation is the responsibility of the federal states, so that there may be occasional deviations.