While millions of Austrians have been waiting for months to get a vaccine appointment, in some cases you may have to cancel. 

Although this may not seem to be a big deal, authorities have been taking steps to tackle the phenomenon of ‘tactical cancellation’ – i.e. where people cancel because they want to get a different vaccine to the one they are allocated. 

Therefore, in some cases people who cancel their appointment will need to go to the back of the queue. 

Here’s what you need to know. 

Styria

New rules have been introduced for people who cancel Covid 19 vaccine appointments in Styria, after many people in the state repeatedly cancelled their appointments or did not show up in the hope of being rescheduled with a different choice of vaccine.

Those who cancel or do not show up for vaccine appointments twice in a row will be placed at the back of the queue, the Wiener Zeitung newspaper reports,

The rule attempts to stop “vaccination tacticians”, or people who cancel their appointment in the hope of getting a different vaccine on the next try.

However, not all other states have followed suit.

EXPLAINED: Can you choose which Covid 19 vaccine to take in Austria?

Carinthia

According to the APA agency in Carinthia, people who do not show up for or cancel two vaccine appointments will be deleted from the system, and will have to register again.

It says often the reason for cancellations or no shows is because many registered people, such as hospital employees, may be called in to use up leftover doses and not need their appointments.

According to a spokesman the system works well in the state and no doses have needed to be thrown away.

However, last week, people who wanted to be vaccinated gathered in large numbers outside the vaccination centres and did not wait to be called for an appointment, according to the Wiener Zeitung newspaper.  

UPDATED: How can I get vaccinated for Covid-19 in Austria?

Vienna

Vienna does not sanction anyone who repeatedly fails to attend a specific vaccination appointment in Vienna.

However, it has warned against trying to cancel in order to try and get a different vaccine.

The City of Vienna warns “you cannot choose the vaccine”. 

Tyrol 

In Tyrol, even refusing a vaccination appointment several times does not result in any penalties. People who are invited to a vaccination appointment must either accept or decline it.

If the appointment is rejected, the person remains in the system and receives a new vaccination appointment, although this could take longer.

The state told the APA agency that vaccination appointments were mostly kept. Any cancelled appointments are given to another person up to 24 hours before the appointment.

Lower Austria

In Lower Austria, people who have not kept the appointments for the corona vaccination can “simply register again” according to a Lower Austria spokesman.

They told the APA agency it was important to “vaccinate everyone who wants to be vaccinated”. No record of cancellations or rejections of the vaccines are kept by the vaccination centres.

Salzburg

In Salzburg, people who do not attend vaccination appointments are neither blocked nor put to the back back of the queue. At the moment, over 65-year-olds are being vaccinated in Salzburg, but they are not allowed to choose their vaccine. The vaccination appointments are only given if the vaccine is actually available, a few days in advance.

If someone misses the vaccination appointment, the next person on the priority list is informed, working with resident doctors and the Red Cross.

A spokesman said cancelling vaccine appointments was not a “mass phenomenon” in Salzburg, and many people are keen to have the appointment if someone does not want the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

Vorarlberg

Anyone who does not attend a vaccination appointment in Vorarlberg, for whatever reason, will be invited back to the next possible appointment.

Sometimes people do not attend appointments because they are only available at very short notice, a press office spokesman told the APA agency.

In the event of a rejection, the next person on the list is contacted, and this has worked well so far with no waste of vaccine, the spokesman reports. 

Upper Austria

State vaccination coordinator Franz Schützeneder told the Krone newspaper anyone who fails to respond to an invitation to a vaccine appointment is deleted from the system and must register again for another vaccination.

The Krone newspaper also reports 5,200 out of the 12,500 teachers and school staff who could have received vaccinations up to April 24th have not signed up for the jab, and theorises this could be because of plans to vaccinate with AstraZeneca.

Meanwhile only around 10 percent of police officers in Upper Austria have been vaccinated.