On Saturday, those interested were able to get vaccinated in an Austrian Airlines Boeing 777. It had capacity for 300 vaccinations, but only around 200 of them could be vaccinated. The result: The initiators stayed seated on around a third. Nevertheless, the vaccination day is described as a "complete success".
The fact that the Red Cross of Lower Austria, Flughafen Wien AG and Austrian Airlines AG have teamed up and organized an extraordinary vaccination campaign in a long-haul aircraft is basically an absolutely praiseworthy and good thing. However, there would still have been around a third of room for improvement in terms of the optimal use of supply and demand for “capacity”. One could therefore have spoken of a “piercing” success if one had at least been able to inoculate all 300 syringes. Nevertheless: After all, almost 200 people have been vaccinated and that is a small but important piece of the puzzle in fighting pandemic.
Of course, airport board member Julian Jäger and AUA boss Alexis von Hoensbroech also had a dose of the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine administered. The two managers set a good example because there is no compulsory vaccination at Flughafen Wien AG or Austrian Airlines AG. Both companies rely on the voluntary nature of their employees and have so far achieved respectable vaccination coverage.
“We are overwhelmed that our offer to vaccinate was accepted by so many people and that with this campaign we were not only able to offer a unique experience, but also were able to make a contribution to combating the pandemic. Now it is time to continue on this path, because only a rapidly increasing vaccination rate will give us back the freedoms that we all want so much, "said Austrian Airlines CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech and further:" Thanks to the committed organizational team and to our cooperation partners who got this vaccination campaign up and running within a few hours. Together we can contain the virus, only with the vaccination can we fly out of the pandemic. "
“We are delighted that so many people answered our call and got a COVID-19 vaccination on the AUA plane at the airport. We will only get this pandemic under control with a high vaccination rate. I would like to thank Austrian Airlines and the Red Cross, as well as all my colleagues from Vienna Airport, for getting this campaign off the ground at such short notice, ”said Julian Jäger, CEO of Flughafen Wien AG.