Where's our vaccine??? Wo ist unser Impfstoff???
Amid discussions about production shortfalls and shortages of vaccine - and possible tricky dealings - Mrs Din and I were mildly surprised on a recent "corona" walk in our neighbourhood to find this building large as life looking down upon us.
The inscription (in majestic majuscules) reads:
"INSTITUTION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VACCINES."
Well, there you have it!!! And where are the goods??? Who needs Biontech, Moderna, Astra Zeneca and whatever they may call themselves? We, here in little old working-class Ottakring, on the outskirts of Vienna and of the Western World, have our own Royal Imperial vaccine production!!!
Yes, "majestic" is the word! The building dates from the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Emperor's Coat of Arms (the double-headed eagle looking east and west) graces the entrance. How long it has been since vaccines were actually produced here, I don't know, but apparently there are older people around and about who can remember being vaccinated here as children. Tuberculosis ("the Viennese Disease") was a major problem in the city well into the twentieth century. This however was fought not only with vaccine, but with Vienna's exemplary community housing projects of the 1920s and the accompanying social services, hygienic measures, medical care, education etc., which resulted from the wise planning of Vienna's Socialist City Council , known as "Das Rote Wien" (Red Vienna).
Currently the building houses the "A.G.E.S." - an institute which oversees the pharmaceutical market in Austria. One of their current responsibilities is to collect data on the spread of Covid-19 and to provide statistics to the government.
Where's our vaccine??? Wo ist unser Impfstoff???
Amid discussions about production shortfalls and shortages of vaccine - and possible tricky dealings - Mrs Din and I were mildly surprised on a recent "corona" walk in our neighbourhood to find this building large as life looking down upon us.
The inscription (in majestic majuscules) reads:
"INSTITUTION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VACCINES."
Well, there you have it!!! And where are the goods??? Who needs Biontech, Moderna, Astra Zeneca and whatever they may call themselves? We, here in little old working-class Ottakring, on the outskirts of Vienna and of the Western World, have our own Royal Imperial vaccine production!!!
Yes, "majestic" is the word! The building dates from the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Emperor's Coat of Arms (the double-headed eagle looking east and west) graces the entrance. How long it has been since vaccines were actually produced here, I don't know, but apparently there are older people around and about who can remember being vaccinated here as children. Tuberculosis ("the Viennese Disease") was a major problem in the city well into the twentieth century. This however was fought not only with vaccine, but with Vienna's exemplary community housing projects of the 1920s and the accompanying social services, hygienic measures, medical care, education etc., which resulted from the wise planning of Vienna's Socialist City Council , known as "Das Rote Wien" (Red Vienna).
Currently the building houses the "A.G.E.S." - an institute which oversees the pharmaceutical market in Austria. One of their current responsibilities is to collect data on the spread of Covid-19 and to provide statistics to the government.