Greece: Police fire water cannons, tear gas at anti COVID-vaccination protesters

Greek police fired water cannons and tear gas shells at a crowd of anti-vaccination protesters in Thessaloniki on 11 September. About 7,000 demonstrators, including labour union members, gathered in Greece's second-largest city to protest against the rule of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations in the country.

The demonstrators expressed dissatisfaction over the suspension of unvaccinated staff, especially frontline workers, leaving health facilities severely understaffed.

According to reports, the police retaliation came after the protestors hurled flares at a diplomatic convoy moving towards the city's economic convention centre where Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was supposed to deliver a keynote speech. Greek police sprayed water cannons to control the crowd and prevent them from reaching the venue. 

Previous protests against Greece's COVID-19 measures

This wasn't the first time that police clashed with demonstrators protesting against the country's COVID-19 measures in Greece.  On 29 August, over 7,000 people held rallies outside the Greek Parliament against COVID-19 inoculation rules. The protests took a violent turn after police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. The demonstrators waved flags and displayed placards with slogans like "we are not against vaccines, but against fascism," and "long live democracy".

On 22 July, thousands of protestors had gathered in  Athens to oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates ordered by the Greek government. The demonstrations took place in front of the parliament building in the capital city. The demonstrators were dispersed by Greek Police who fired water cannons and tear gas shells. Simultaneous protests had taken place in Thessaloniki and adjacent cities on the same day.

Greece's new COVID-19 rules

Greece's government proposed a list of new rules for un-vaccinated citizens in July. In a bid to ensure complete vaccination of Greek health workers, the government hinted that staff members could be suspended without pay starting mid-August if they fail to comply. The rule has left Greece's hospitals under a severe shortage of staff amidst the escalating Delta variant infections in the country. The revised rules also urged retirement home workers to get their due vaccinations.

According to a public health bulletin released by the Greek government, more than 14,000 people have died due to COVID-related causes. So far about 45% of the population has received complete vaccination against the 2019 coronavirus. On 10 September, the country reported 2,129 new COVID-19 infections, which pushed the total tally to 6.12 lakh cases.

(With inputs from AP, Image: AP)