Protests against compulsory vaccination took place in Estonia | News from Germany about Europe

A massive protest against coronavirus restrictions was held in Tallinn, which gathered several thousand people on Saturday, October 23. The people who gathered for the rally “in defense of a free society” did not observe social distance, few of them wore a protective mask.

Numerous posters featured slogans against vaccination and the policies pursued by Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas. Speakers at the rally demanded the abandonment of compulsory vaccination against coronavirus and new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the infection.

The organizer of the action was the non-profit organization Fund for the Protection of Family and Traditions (SAPTK), writes the Internet edition RusDelfi. It is led by 41-year-old lawyer Varro Vooglaid, known for his extremely conservative views. In 2020, he expressed support for the then head of the Estonian Interior Ministry, Mart Helme, whose homophobic statements in an interview with DW caused a political crisis in the country.

Covid in Estonia

Meanwhile, the situation with the spread of the coronavirus in Estonia has seriously deteriorated in recent weeks. On this day, 1,643 new cases of infection were recorded, which is comparable only to the situation during the last wave of the epidemic in March. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the spread of coronavirus in Estonia is now one of the highest in Europe.

Earlier, on October 12, Latvia introduced a state of emergency for 3 months due to an outbreak of the COVID-19 disease.

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Author: Andrey Gurkov