Thousands of people marched through the Czech Republic’s capital on Sunday to protest against compulsory COVID-19 vaccination for certain groups and professions.
The protesters gathered at Wenceslas Square in central Prague to question the effectiveness of the current vaccines and reject the vaccination of children before marching through the capital, chanting “Freedom, freedom.”
Prague’s protest followed similar but smaller demonstrations in several Czech cities on Saturday.
The previous government released an order in early December, making vaccination mandatory for the 60 and over age group, as well as medical personnel, police officers, firefighters and medical students.
Get weekly health news
The order is due to take effect in March, but it still might end up being overturned.
- U.S. sanctions Cuba’s president, others in latest move to pressure leaders
- FIFA bans reusable water bottles at World Cup, says water can be bought on site
- Sherpa guide lost on Mount Everest found alive crawling back to base camp
- Shipwrecks discovered from ‘Golden Age of Piracy’ in 18th century Bahamas
Prime Minister Andrej Babis’ administration was replaced later in December by a new government formed by five parties that won October’s parliamentary election, led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
The new administration opposed a vaccination mandate for older people and was ready to cancel it, but didn’t rule out it might still be compulsory for some, depending on the development of the pandemic. The government should announce its decision about it by the middle of February.
The new fast spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus was expected by health authorities to become dominant in the country next week.
In the nation of 10.7 million, 6.7 million are considered fully vaccinated, while over 2.8 million have received a booster shot.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.