With Vienna reopening hotels and restaurants/cafés on 20 December, the nationwide lockdown in Austria comes to an end.
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Travel to Austria for touristic purposes is possible for vaccinated and recovered people. However, if you haven't received your booster jab, you need a negative PCR test on top.
The so-called 2-G-rule ("vaccinated, recovered") will come in effect for entering Austria on 20 December. A PCR test is no longer sufficient.
Everyone entering Austria has to show any one of these two documents:
- Vaccine Certificate
The following vaccines (including mix-and-match vaccines) are recognised for ENTERING Austria: BioNtech/Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Covishield, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sinovac, and Sinopharm. You are considered fully vaccinated:
1. if you have received both doses of AstraZeneca, Covishield, BioNtech/Pfizer, Moderna, Sinopharm, or Sinovac; OR
2. if you have received your one Johnson & Johnson dose at least 22 days before arrival (only valid until 3 January 2022; after that a booster vaccination is required); OR
3. if you have had COVID and have received one vaccination dose (proof of past infection required).
4. From 20 December, you also need a PCR test unless you have already received the booster jab - if you can't show a PCR test upon arrival, you immediately have to self-isolate until you can present a negative PCR test.
5. Teenagers can also use the new Holiday Ninja Pass to enter Austria.
The vaccine certificate is valid for 270 days after the 2nd dose for 2-dose vaccines. For people with a past infection + one vaccination, it is valid for 270 days after that one dose. If you have had a third/additional/booster vaccination, it is valid for 270 days from the third jab. There must be at least 120 days between the second and third jab, and at least 14 days between the first and the second jab.
Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac are only accepted to enter Austria. Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac are not accepted for entering any type of accommodation, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, leisure centres, gyms, cultural institutions, on cable cars/ski lifts and for body-related services.
- Proof of Past Infection
You can enter Austria for 180 days after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. A certificate of recovery, a medical confirmation (a PCR test) or a notice about the obligation to quarantine are considered as proof. Proof of neutralising antibodies is no longer valid for entry into Austria.
Proof of a PCR test, vaccination, or past infection can be a doctor's certificate, an official test result, a vaccination certificate/vaccination card/vaccine passport (including a pdf from an electronic vaccine passport, either on your phone or as a hard copy), or an official/medical certificate proving a past infection, either in German or English. ■