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HEALTH

How can I get a Covid or flu vaccine in Austria this autumn?

The Austrian Association of Doctors (ÖÄK) says it’s prepared for this year’s vaccination season. So who can get what vaccine and where?

Published: 3 October 2023 11:32 CEST
Updated: 16 October 2023 14:03 CEST
How can I get a Covid or flu vaccine in Austria this autumn?
Austrian physicians say they're ready for the Covid-19, RSV and flu vaccine season. (Photo by ALEX HALADA / AFP)

Despite some complaints of a shortage of October appointments, particularly in Vienna, the association is encouraging at risk people to book in their appointments to get vaccinated for Covid-19, RSV, the flu, and pneumonia.

“We’re ready and there’s no gap in what we can offer,” says ÖÄK President Edgar Wutscher, although he did note that fewer people in Austria are prepared and willing to get vaccinated than they typically might like to see.

Wutscher encourages anyone who is at-risk, or who simply might like to get a vaccine as a precaution, to call their general practitioner as soon as possible to book an appointment. Wutscher notes that many practices are ordering vaccines in smaller quantities on a rolling basis, according to the number of appointments they have, to prevent waste. Because it might take a few days for an order to be shipped out, he recommends calling your doctor as soon as possible to get a timely vaccine.

Can I get vaccinated at a pharmacy?

Despite some previous suggestions from the Health Minister, vaccination is not currently available in pharmacies or in the large vaccination centres Austria saw during the pandemic. As such, the main place in Austria to get your vaccines remains your doctor’s office.

What can I get?

Austria recently updated its vaccination guidelines to recommend only one jab for Covid-19, as well as booster jabs, rather than the three that had been required for full immunisation recently. Recently delivered vaccines are also up to date to cover new Covid variants.

RSV vaccines are also available in Austria for the first time this season, in addition to pneumonia, flu, and meningitis vaccines.

People over the age of 60 and people at higher risk, including pregnant women, are particularly recommended to get doses.

READ ALSO: What are Austria’s new Covid-19 and RSV vaccine recommendations?

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HEALTH

Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Waiting times to get appointments with health specialists in Vienna have increased significantly, a new study has revealed.

Published: 17 May 2024 09:56 CEST
Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Accessing essential healthcare within a reasonable timeframe is becoming increasingly difficult for Viennese residents.

The Vienna Medical Association presented their new study this week which shows that waiting times for appointments with health specialists have increased significantly in recent years.

The study, which involved contacting over 850 doctors’ practices via so-called “mystery calls,” revealed that child and adolescent psychiatry currently had the longest waiting times in the city.

Patients can expect to wait an average of 90 days for an appointment.

Other specialisations where patients have to wait long to receive help include radiology (57 days), neurology (45 days), ophthalmology (44 days), pulmonology (36 days), internal medicine (33 days), and dermatology (28 days).

The waiting time for seeing a gynaecologist has increased fourfold since 2012, with patients now waiting an average of 32 days.

READ MORE: Why are there fewer public sector doctors in Austria?

No new patients accepted

In certain specialist areas, there is no capacity to accommodate new patients. The situation where no new patients are accepted occurs particularly often in paediatric practices, where more than half of the public healthcare practices have put a freeze on admissions.

In child and adolescent psychiatry, 40 percent do not accept new patients, and among gynaecologists, it is almost a third (30 percent). Family doctors also struggle with welcoming new patients, and many of their practices have already reached full capacity.

The Medical Association calls for immediate action, urging the health insurance sector to become more attractive and receive better funding. This could involve measures to incentivise doctors to work within the public system, potentially reducing wait times and improving patient access to care.

During the study presentation, Johannes Steinhart, president of the association, described the increased waiting times as the result of neglect within the established health insurance sector. He said he believes that the public health system is massively endangered.

Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, chairwoman of the Curia of the resident doctors in the association, pointed out that while the population of the federal capital has grown by 16 percent since 2012, the number of public doctors has fallen by 12 percent in the same period.

The association now wants to make the public healthcare system more attractive to doctors, which could cut down waiting times and make it easier for patients to receive care. The association’s demands for this to happen include increasing flexibility in contract options, integrating health and social professions in individual practices, reducing bureaucracy, and improving fees.

ÖGK, Österreichische Gesundheitskasse, Austria’s largest public healthcare fund, is currently creating 100 additional public health positions, with almost two-thirds of the positions already having applicants, as well as planning for another 100 positions. They also aim to create a central telemedicine service and a platform for making appointments by phone and online, which is meant to reduce waiting times and improve access to care.

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