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COVID-19

More than 40,000 protest vaccine mandate in Vienna

More than 40,000 people protested in Vienna on Saturday against plans to bring in compulsory Covid-19 vaccinations from February.

Published: 4 December 2021 18:40 CET
A protester in Vienna.
Demonstrators light flares during a rally held by Austria's far-right Freedom Party FPÖ against the measures taken to curb the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, at Maria Theresien Platz square in Vienna, Austria on November 20, 2021. - Most Austrians are not against the idea of the far-right being in government. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)

The draft vaccine mandate law is set to be presented to the country’s parliament next week, only a week after it was first proposed at a press conference last Tuesday. The country’s parliament also announced last week that it was doubling the length of the country’s current lockdown to 20 days. 

According to the Kronen Zeitung newspaper, protestors gathered at the Heldenplatz square at around 1pm, chanting “resistance” and “Freedom”. 

The Austrian police dispatched 1,200 officers to control the protestors and keep them separate from an estimated 1,500 counter-protestors. The newspaper said that the police had also diverted a contingent from the far-right Identitäre Bewegung Österreich group towards Landstrasse, only for the extremist group to later return to the main demonstration. 

One protestor bore a sign saying “no to the vaccine mandate. My body belongs to me”. 

Another dressed as The Joker from the film Batman, carried a sign saying “Stop this Bad Man government.” 

Another dressed in chains, and wore a gold tinfoil hat. 

According to The Local Austria’s editor, Catherine Edwards, the protests had made it difficult to cross the city centre during the day.   

Protesters marched past the Viennese State Opera building. 

The atmosphere was mostly peaceful, with some protestors bringing sound systems, and according to Kronen Zeitung, a large number of families with children, one of whom held a banner that said, “For love, for children and for all people”. 

Most protestors were not wearing masks, which are required to be worn during large outdoor events under Austrian Covid regulations. Police repeatedly instructed the marchers to put on masks over loudspeakers. 

While speeches were still being held at Heldenplatz, a group of protestors moved towards the circular Ringstrasse boulevard, where they started to set off fireworks. Soon clashes broke out between protestors and the police. 

Police used smoke grenades and tear gas to control the crowd and detained several protestors. 

According to the Kronen Zeitung newspaper, the protestors began to disperse and go home shortly after 4pm. 

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HEALTH

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The World Health Organization's European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. And the real figure may be much higher.

Published: 27 June 2023 13:27 CEST
Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

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