Covid lockdowns are currently happening all over Europe and government mandates are being greeted first with what appears to be peaceful protests but in many cases quickly escalating to violence. As reported in TrialSite, on November 14, Austria will be going into a “lockdown” week with forthcoming mandatory vaccines. According to The New York Times, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands are all experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases. This has led to a general resentment of European governments and, in several cases, violence.
According to the New York Times, the new covid “wave” has been driven by lockdown resistance along with mask and vaccine mandates. About 66 percent of Austrians are vaccinated, and the lockdown could last up to 20 days. Under the lockdown, Austrians will only be allowed out of their apartments for “essential” tasks. During the coming holiday period, this could lead to financial hardship for store owners who were looking to capitalize on the holiday season leading up to Christmas. The Austrian government also plans to make vaccination mandatory in February 2022. This led to protests on the streets of Vienna.
Protests are not unique to Vienna. In the last few days, there have been protests all over Europe. In Brussels, Belgium tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the government’s anti-covid restrictions. Some of the demonstrations were violent. There were also violent protests in The Netherlands in the cities of Rotterdam and The Hague. In Croatia, public workers demonstrated over vaccine mandates, and protests also erupted in France, Denmark, and Switzerland. Italy now has a weekly anti-mandate protest in Rome. In Rotterdam, police drew their weapons and opened fire on the demonstration. At least seven people were injured and 50 were arrested.
Europe is now relying on a digital covid pass or “green pass” allowing travelers to go from country to country without quarantining. The pass also allows people to enter restaurants and other public sites.
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Protesters in Europe have carried signs from both the far left and far-right political parties. The major rallying cry among all the protestors is that the mandates are discriminatory and are having a negative economic impact due to the restrictions on bars, restaurants, and shopping.
As TrialSite reported, the impact of the mandates has led to greater divisions on the European continent. Essentially, people are divided into the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Many workers in Europe feel they are left with no choice but to get the covid shot.
Before the Austrian lockdown went into effect customers flocked to Holiday shops. However, now the seasonal businesses are worried about survival. The economic impact could cut a wide swath across the entire political spectrum.
With 40,000 protesters in Vienna on Saturday, Europeans are continually asking the age-old question: “What is the price for freedom?”