Skeptics of vaccines slammed as omicron spreads
From Boris Johnson to Emmanuel Macron, Europe’s leaders are increasingly going after anti-vaxxers as the battle against the fast-spreading omicron variant deepens the region’s pandemic fatigue.
Amid a seemingly unstoppable surge in infections, officials are focusing restrictions on unvaccinated people rather than resorting to widespread clampdowns. The strong overall uptake in inoculations has emboldened leaders to go more aggressively after holdouts, prodding them in various ways to roll up their sleeves.
French President Macron took the rhetoric to a new level this week when he said his government’s strategy was to “p—- off” those who have refused shots. In the U.K., Johnson accused anti-vaxxers of spreading “nonsense.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who supports making shots compulsory, has labeled the anti-vax movement “a tiny minority of reckless extremists.”
With the pandemic entering its third year and about 70% of Europe fully vaccinated, the leaders are betting they have popular support for this approach.
Across the continent, the policy of coercion is becoming l’ordre du jour, with many governments trying to make life difficult for those refusing a vaccine and brushing aside concerns about civic freedoms.
Macron, who faces a difficult re-election campaign this spring, is banking on support among the millions who are desperate to leave the pandemic behind. Some 77% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to government figures, putting him squarely on the side of the majority.
On Friday, he stood by his remarks, saying it “was my responsibility to ring the alarm.”
On Saturday, several thousand people joined marches across France to protest against restrictions for the non-vaccinated, brandishing placards denouncing Macron’s choice of language and his government’s latest efforts to tighten rules. According to local press reports, the protests were mainly peaceful although police fired tear gas amid minor clashes in Paris.
France is toughening restrictions on those without inoculations, looking to put in place a vaccine pass to access bars and restaurants, or even to travel by train.