Austria has one of the worst vaccination uptake levels in western Europe
A brothel in Vienna is providing
covid jabs and giving those who take up the officer free 30-minute sessions with the "lady of their choice".
Vaccination uptake levels in Austria are among the worst in western Europe leading the government to introduce tighter restrictions, including banning the unvaccinated from visiting cafes, restaurants and hairdressers.
Roughly 64 per cent of Austria's population is fully vaccinated against covid.
Funpalast brothel is hoping to increase vaccination rates, as well as boost its customer base which has reportedly dropped 50 per cent during the pandemic in a novel inducement scheme that is in stark contrast to the UK government's own attempts.
In August, it offered
taxi and fast food deals to sway young people.
The new rules in Austria, announced Friday (November 5), came as daily infections reached their highest in nearly a year. The country reported 9,943 cases within a 24-hour period on Saturday, surpassing the previous worst day of November 13 2020 when 9,586 were recorded.
Funpalast is encouraging both men and women to visit for vaccinations this month.
According to a report in the
Mail Online, a man named Gerhard who visited the brothel said: "I would have gotten vaccinated anyway but the 2G rule has certainly accelerated things a little."
The '2G rule', which requires proof of full vaccination or recovery from coronavirus, will also be in place for hotel and cinema visits or events for more than 25 people.
"And since an acquaintance of mine organised this action I thought 'Let's go for it'.
"I think this is perfectly ok because we can achieve a better immunisation rate this way and that's necessary to end the pandemic at some point."
Peter Laskaris, manager of Funpalast, told
Reuters that he had noticed in the statistics that "very many men with a migration background virtually refuse vaccination or don't even know that you can be vaccinated," and since the brothel reaches this target group, the initiative was a good way to help the country reach herd immunity.
One of the women who works at Funpalast, who gave her name as Mina, has been quoted as saying the idea is "very good" because the brothel's name suggests people have fun and great vaccination take-up will help "return back to normality a bit more".
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