• Tuesday, 24 December 2024

Police in Athens use tear gas against vaccination opponents

Police in Athens use tear gas against vaccination opponents
Greek police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a demonstration by vaccination opponents in front of the Greek parliament in Athens on Wednesday. The approximately 3,000 demonstrators, including many professing to be religious adherents, were protesting against coronavirus measures that increase pressure on vaccination refusers to get vaccinated, state radio and reporters on the scene reported. Security forces were called in because many demonstrators had got too close to the parliament building, police said. The conservative government has already decreed that only vaccinated people are allowed to be inside restaurants and cultural institutions. In restaurants and bars, customers are only allowed to take seats. Dancing together is not allowed. Employees in the health sector and who care for the elderly will also have to be vaccinated in the future - otherwise they can be released from their work and - as long as they are not vaccinated - will not be paid. The number of new infections in Greece has skyrocketed since the beginning of July after comprehensive relaxations. Coronavirus experts see the cause mainly in nightlife and partying youths. On the jet-set island of Mykonos, a ban on going out at night between 1 and 6 am has already been in force for four days.