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I consider traveling to austria after may 19th. (I am German and would start my journey in Germany).

According to https://www.austria.info/de/service-und-fakten/coronavirus-situation-in-oesterreich/einreise-nach-oesterreich one does not have to take a PCR test if one is vaccinated. But one gets the vaccination in two steps.

Question:

Is it enough to be vaccinated once or do i have to be vaccinated twice in order to skip the pcr test?

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    For Germany the rule will be: full vaccination plus 14 days.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 19:02
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    @Harper-Reinstate Monica What is A-Z? If it is AstraZeneca, 2 are needed (in Germany 12 weeks apart).
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 19:06
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    You don't get vaccinated twice, you get vaccinated once but the vaccine is administered in two doses. You are only "vaccinated" after you have received both doses (and only fully protected by the vaccination a few days after the second dose).
    – terdon
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 9:28
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    @terdon I believe this is just a litteral translation from German, where Erstimpfung is common. I almost remarked on that earlier but, while it sounds odd to me, “first vaccination” seems to occur in English as well (I came across some scientific paper using that phrase). Clearly, Austria has chosen to use another definition of the word “vaccinated” to help reopen the hospitality and tourism industry.
    – Relaxed
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 12:21

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The rules for entry after May 19 have yet to be finalised but the border with Germany already opened up a little bit on May 13. For people who have not been outside of Germany and Austria in the last 10 days, it's possible to enter without test or quarantine if you can show you have received at least one vaccine injection.

Anerkannt sind alle von der EMA zugelassen Impfstoffe. Eine Impfung gilt ab dem 22. Tag nach der Erstimpfung für maximal 3 Monate. Nach der zweiten Teilimpfung verlängert sich die Gültigkeit um weitere 6 Monate. Bei Impfstoffen, die nur eine Impfung erfordern, gilt diese ab dem 22. Tag.

Unlike what was suggested in the earlier plan, this exemption is only valid for 3 months after the first injection and 6 months after the second one (vs. one year). By contrast, in many countries (and, possibly, to return to Germany more easily), “vaccinated” means having received all a full vaccination course (i.e. two doses for most vaccines).

The Austrian government now calls this the 3-G-Regel for Getestet, Geimpft, Genesen (or, in English, “tested, vaccinated, recovered”) and it will apply across the board (restaurants, sport, entertainment, international travel). More details on the overall reopening plan are available on the government website and in the FAQ.

For now, travellers also need to register electronically before crossing the border and the ongoing lock-down still makes tourism difficult.

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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 10:11
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Some vaccines require only one stab.

E.G. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine. One, and done. The J&J is made in the Netherlands, so you may have access to it.

Only certain vaccines, such as Pfizer's, Moderna's, and AstraZeneca's, require two jabs at specific intervals.

If you have already started with a 2-jab technology vaccine, then you need to get your second shot of the same type and after the specified interval, even if that means handling that in the different country.

Alternately, consult with medical professionals about whether it is alright to "change horses midstream" and go out and get a 1-shot vaccine immediately. That would bring you immediately to a "technically vaccinated" condition, however in actual practice, the vaccine takes a couple of weeks to gain useful strength.

This vaccine is not an immunity; it reduces the chances, but you can still get COVID and spread it. The vaccine is designed and certified to reduce the severity of COVID symptoms, i.e. reduce mortality and reduce hospital workload.

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    It should also be noted that the primary reason why J&J is single shot is because that’s how the testing protocol was setup. The reason why mRNA vaccines are two shot is likewise because that’s the chosen protocol. Based on current data a single shot of Pfizer is just as good as a single shot of J&J and it’s possible that two shots of J&J are just as good as two shots of Pfizer. It’s also possible that three shots would be even better, we just don’t know because no one tested it yet.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 20:02
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    Both the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines are adenovirus vaccines (as are the Russian and Chinese vaccines). I agree with @JonathanReez that the vaccines are used the way they are solely because that is how the companies chose to test them. It is also odd to call any of these "traditional (tried and tested) vaccine technology" when, to my knowledge, only one prior vaccine (for ebola) used an adenovirus, though I guess that's one more than prior mRNA vaccines.
    – user38879
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 20:26
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    @JonathanReez I don't practice epidemiology in those particular areas with sufficient currency, so I couldn't say. I consider it enough of a victory to know what I don't know i.e. not fall into the fallacy of "knowing enough to think you're right" as Neil Degrasse Tyson puts it. I do know, from NEC/UL, that when something isn't tested, that means you don't know.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 20:40
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    @Harper-ReinstateMonica Calling something "tried and tested" just because it is only one-shot is plain disinformation IMO. There are many (non-COVID) vaccines that have been in use for decades which require more than one shot. For example the standard UK vaccination against MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) requires two doses, and vaccination against diphtheria, hepatitis B, polio, tetanus, and whooping cough require 3 doses spread over a year, plus two more booster doses after 3 and 14 years, plus a further booster dose during pregnancy.
    – alephzero
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 21:40
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    @Harper-ReinstateMonica "not to mention first vaccine with this level of hostility/reluctance" - the USA is not the world. Vaccination takeup in the UK, for those groups to which it has been offered so far, is consistently over 90%, and for some age subgroups, over 98%.
    – alephzero
    Commented May 5, 2021 at 21:48

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