By V4 Agency
Austria’s chief vaccination coordinator Clemens Martin Auer has resigned, the country’s health minister announced on Monday on the Ö1 public service radio.
Rudolf Anschober accepted the resignation with immediate effect and appointed Katharina Reich, Director General of Public Health, to fill the vacancy. Ms Reich will be responsible for the coordination of vaccination both inside and outside the country.
Mr Auer resigned after it came to light over the weekend that he had not informed the minister about the possibility of purchasing additional shipments of the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine, the minister confirmed. Mr Anschober, who was unable to work last week because he was hospitalised with circulatory problems, said Austria had ordered all the available contingents – almost two million doses – from Pfizer-Biontech in the first quarter, but failed to secure additional shipments, as the vaccination coordinator has failed to inform either the minister, or the chancellor of that possibility.
“Auer decided on his own that Austria will not use the option of additional vaccine procurement even though the finance ministry made the necessary financial resources available,” the minister added.
In addition, Mr Anschober spoke about stepping up the vaccination campaign, as well as about the new provision that clearly sets out for the states that vaccination should be carried out on an “optimal and uniform basis” across the country. “Accordingly, the immunisation of the elderly and high-risk groups is a priority in all states,” the minister stressed.
Austria belongs to the bottom third of European countries in terms of immunisation. Although the number of administered vaccine doses has reached one million, only 274 884 people have received both doses, which only amounts to 3.65 per cent of the country’s population.