Hundreds of people demonstrated in Prague against compulsory vaccinations, and protests took place elsewhere
A total of several thousand people gathered in Prague and several other cities in the Czech Republic to demonstrate against the Ordinance on Compulsory Vaccination. Protesters in Prague gathered on Wenceslas Square. At 3 pm they set out on a march through Prague towards the Straka Academy.
The decree on compulsory vaccination of people over the age of 60 and selected professional groups was prepared by the former government of Andrej Babiš (ANO), which is due to take effect in March. Petr Fiala’s new cabinet (ODS) plans to exclude compulsory vaccinations from the regulation, at least for the elderly; according to Fiala, the government is to decide on the amendment to the decree by mid-February.
The Prague March was scheduled for Sunday 15:00 from Wenceslas Square down to the pedestrian zone in Příkopy, Revoluční Street around Palladium. The protesters also crossed the Dvořák embankment around the Rudolfinum over the Mánes Bridge to the Straka Academy. They also planned to continue along Chodková Street, Mariánské Hradby, Jelení Street, Brusnice Street, Kanovnická Street, Hradčanské Square. “Musical instruments are welcome,” the organizers wrote.
According to police spokesman Libor Hejtman, approximately 500 people gathered in protest in the center of Olomouc. From the Upper Square, they marched through the city, which ended again at the Upper Square. “The action went without public order or government regulation,” said Hejtman.
The police did not register any problems in České Budějovice either. According to her, after half an hour there were about a hundred participants at the demonstration and gradually the number increased to several hundred. After about two hours, the participants parted ways, said Štěpánka Schwarzová, a spokeswoman for the South Bohemian police. Approximately one hundred people also demonstrated on the square in the center of Ústí nad Labem, where several speakers spoke on the stage, including the chairman of the Workers’ Party of Social Justice, Tomáš Vandas. “We do not allow our rights to be limited. For two years now, we have witnessed various regulations, ordinances, lockdowns, this is incredible psychological terror, “said Vandas.
David Pejřil, a member of the Ústí nad Labem police, also came to the demonstration. “I am here for all members of the armed forces within the Declaration of the Members of the Integrated Rescue System (IRS). We are demonstrating for the repeal of the decree, which forces the IRS and other armed forces to make vaccinations,” he said. He said he did not refuse vaccination as such, but I did not agree with mandatory covid vaccination, which he said should be based on voluntariness. If the decree on compulsory vaccination came into force, he did not leave the police himself. “Of course, I would wait until I was fired and resisted by all legal means,” he said. “We want the decree to be repealed in its entirety,” he added. After more than an hour, the protesters, accompanied by police, marched through the city for about an hour.
The procession of opponents of the mandatory coronavirus vaccination also passed through Karlovy Vary, where several hundred people arrived in front of the main post office in Smetanovy sady. The average age of the participants was around 40 years, there were few young people in the protest and most participants claimed that they were not opponents of the coronavirus vaccination, but did not agree with the vaccination obligations.
As in other cities where protests were found, Karlovy Vary was without problems, according to the police. “There were no problems,” said regional police spokeswoman Zuzana Týřová.
In Brno, on the route of about 2,000 opponents of compulsory vaccination, the police stopped traffic for a short time and called on the participants to violate anti-coronavirus measures, specifically the threat of breaches and the use of respiratory protection. The protesters overwhelmed these challenges with whistling and shouting. Otherwise, the event went without incidents that the police would have to deal with, police spokesman Bohumil Malášek told ČTK.
The gathering in Brno began at the Cabbage Market, where several hundred people listened to the speeches. But participation gradually grew. According to Kateřina Dobešová, a spokeswoman for the Brno-center district, at the beginning of the march, about 1,000 people were on the scene, and then more were added. For example, the crowd filled the entire Roosevelt Street from Moravské náměstí towards Malinovského náměstí and further into Jánská Street, with the reporter numbering over 2,000 people.