Greek police fire tear gas as 7,000 protest vaccine rules in Athens

Greek police fire tear gas as 7,000 protest vaccine rules in Athens

Greek police fire tear gas as 7,000 protest vaccine rules in Athens Credit: Pixabay

Greek police forced to fire tear gas as 7,000 people protest vaccine rules in Athens.
On Sunday protests broke out in Athens which involved around 7000 people after new rules were bought in which meant that health workers are required to be vaccinated against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The protesters said that police fired tear gas on them after violence broke out.
The change of rules regarding compulsory vaccination began on Wednesday, and means that anyone who works in a hospital will have to be vaccinated against Covid.
During the protest demonstrators were seen to waive Greek flags. They also held up placards which said they were not against the vaccine, but are for democracy. The placards read: “We are not against vaccines, but against fascism” and “Long live democracy”.
During the protest violence broke out and a group of demonstrators began attacking police and even threw stones and bottles at them. The situation escalated and police responded with tear gas, according to an AFP videographer who was at the scene of the protests.
Sadly, yesterday Sunday, August 29, Greece recorded a staggering 1,500 new coronavirus cases and so far since the coronavirus pandemic began over 13,000 people have died in the country. On Tuesday the government in Greece brought in various restrictions in a bid to push more people to get vaccinated.
In other coronavirus news in Europe, Spain is set to have 70% of the population vaccinated in the coming week. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has hit Spain hard but it looks like Spain this week will hit the target set out by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
The milestone set out for Spain was that 70 per cent of the population will be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus pandemic “in the summer” or by the “end of August”, according to the Spanish Prime Minister.
Sanchez has always had this is an objective, which is in line with the EU. It is thought that having 70 per cent of the population fully vaccinated would be sufficiently high enough to help prevent the spread of the virus.


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Alex
Written by

Alex Glenn

Originally from the UK, Alex is based in Almeria and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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