Freedom Party supporters among thousands protesting in Vienna against COVID lockdown and mandatory vaccinations.

Thousands of protesters have gathered in Austria’s capital, Vienna, after the government announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the quickly rising coronavirus infections in the country.

Just less than 66 percent of Austria’s 8.9 million people are fully vaccinated, according to government figures.

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg apologised to all vaccinated people on Friday night, saying it was not fair they had to suffer under the renewed lockdown restrictions when they had done everything to help contain the virus.

“What the far right did is that they saw some layer of the population that wasn’t entirely happy with the necessary measures against the pandemic,” he said, speaking from Vienna.

Austria becomes first Western European nation to reimpose broad and strict measures as virus cases hit fresh records