Austrian MPs have passed a bill making COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory while authorities in France and Israel have announced an easing of pandemic restrictions.
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Lawmakers in Austria's lower house of parliament voted 137 to 33 to approve the mandate, which will apply to all residents of Austria aged 18 and over from February 1.
The bill must now pass the upper house and be signed by President Alexander Van der Bellen, steps which will be largely formalities.
Exempted from the mandate are pregnant women, individuals who for medical reasons can not be vaccinated and people who have recovered from a coronavirus infection in the past six months.
Roughly 72 per cent of Austria's population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the lowest rates in western Europe.
France will ease work-from-home rules from early February and allow nightclubs to reopen two weeks later as the general COVID-19 situation in the country is starting to improve, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday.
Caps on the number of people allowed into sports and entertainment venues will also be lifted on February 2 and masks will no longer be required outdoors from that date.
People will also again, from February 16, be allowed to eat popcorn - or other snacks - in cinemas.
COVID-19 protocols in schools, which among other things require children to wear masks in class, could be relaxed after the winter holidays.
However a vaccine pass, which requires a certificate of vaccination to enter public venues like restaurants, cafes, cinemas and long-distance trains, will enter into force as planned, Castex said, saying it would be enforced from January 24.
The vaccine pass could be dropped later if the risk to public health from the pandemic eased significantly, he told a news conference.
Meanwhile, Israel will ditch mandatory quarantine for children exposed to COVID-19 carriers, the government said on Thursday, citing a need to relieve parents and schools as case numbers spiral due to the fast-spreading but low-morbidity Omicron variant.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that as of January 27, children will instead be required to take twice-weekly home antigen tests for the virus and, if they prove positive or feel unwell, absent themselves from school until they recover.
"Children are returning to continuity in schooling," he said during a televised address with his health and education ministers, adding that medical experts had determined that the young were on sufficiently "safe ground" to warrant the review.
The home kits will be supplied free of charge, he said.
with reporting from DPA
Australian Associated Press
