LONDON (Dispatches) – Thousands of people flocked to the streets of London on Saturday to mark their protest against vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.
Videos emerging from the capital of the United Kingdom show streets packed to capacity with people raising flags and raising posters against the government’s decision of making COVID-19 vaccines compulsory and issuing vaccine passports to the inoculated people to facilitate their travel.
This is not the first time that protesters have poured in on the streets against the government edict mandating vaccines and issuing vaccine passports to regulate the movement of people. A few days back, anti-vaccine protesters stormed the London headquarters of ITN, the company that produces ITV News and Channel 4 News, and temporarily occupied the building.
The crowd that infiltrated the headquarters of ITN was a part of what appeared to have been billed as an “anti-health passport” rally. Videos on social media showed police officers lining the entrance to the building, as journalists saw the protesters occupying the hallway of the building. There were also minor scuffles between police and demonstrators.
Similarly, in the French capital Paris, streets across the city were filled with demonstrators, who had come out to protest against the compulsory vaccine mandates and vaccine passports issued by the government.
Tens of thousands of people protested across Paris on Saturday and for a seventh consecutive week against the COVID-19 health pass, carrying posters that read “No to the health pass” and “freedom”. The protesters have been arguing that the vaccine passports and vaccine mandates impinge upon their freedom and that the government is foisting the vaccines upon them.
Every Saturday for the last 7 weeks, Parisians and people across 150 cities across France have participated in protests against the use of vaccine passports or health passes that attest to the holder having been fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines. The health pass, which entailed information not just about a person’s vaccination but also about his/her recently test report or recovery from the disease, was extended to bars, restaurants and long-distance public transport.
Besides, France had already made it mandatory to have a health pass to visit cultural and leisure venues with a capacity of more than 50 people.