Blocked store entrances, restaurant tables all stacked up, and empty streets. 

This is how the Viennese remember their city last winter, but many still refuse to believe that this is how it will be again.

"The government should be removed for causing this to us again," a pedestrian who prefers not to be identified by name told CGTN in Vienna's Stephansplatz.

As a matter of fact, Austria's government publicly apologized for its performance after announcing this lockdown on Friday. Only a few weeks ago, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg had ruled out a lockdown for the entire population.

But plateauing inoculation rates, record case numbers and an increasing death toll have forced the government to think again.

As of Monday, Austria's roughly nine million people are not allowed to leave home except to go to work, shop for essentials and take a walk. 

Students are allowed to continue going to school, but parents are urged to keep their children at home. Nevertheless, the ministry of education reports that 70 percent of students showed up.

The nationwide lockdown is supposed to last 20 days, after which it is expected to continue for the unvaccinated. The 20 days of lockdown will most likely cost the Austrian taxpayer $3 billion, the think-tank Agenda Austria estimates.
 

The decision has caused fierce protests, with more than 40,000 taking to the streets on Saturday.

Austria has said it will introduce a vaccine mandate before February - joining the Vatican as the only places in Europe with such a requirement.

Although an obligatory vaccination could be seen as encroaching on fundamental individual rights, according to medical law professor Karl Stoger, from the University of Vienna, it would be justifiable if it were the last option available to stop the pandemic. 

"From a legal point of view there are no insurmountable hurdles for the introduction of a compulsory vaccination in Europe," Stoger told CGTN.

The details of the mandatory vaccination requirement have not been released yet but fines for the non-vaccinated will most likely be between $1,000 and $4,000.

"I think that mandatory vaccination is really the best way to get all the people vaccinated,'' said Susanne Drapalik, who runs Austria's biggest vaccination center.

While booster shots have been booming in the last week, the number of first doses has decreased compared with the week before. 

Time will tell how fast the vaccination mandate can change this.