Police, protesters clash at end of protest against COVID vaccinations

ATHENS, Greece — Clashes erupted in Athens on Sunday evening between the police and some participants in a protest rally against COVID-19 vaccinations.

Police estimate the participants in the rally in central Syntagma Square at between 7,000 and 8,000.

As the last of the speeches denouncing government plans to make vaccinations for health workers and students mandatory were finishing, some youths attacked police standing before the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, next to the Greek Parliament with bottles, firecrackers and some firebombs.

Police used tear gas, stun grenades and a water cannon to disperse protesters, who shouted obscenities at the police and against Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

While over 5.7 million people in Greece’s population of 10.7 million have been fully vaccinated, there has been a recent resurgence of cases and hospitalizations, almost entirely fueled by the delta variant and mainly affecting the unvaccinated.