Europe’s vaccine passes reveal some pockets of resistance – KIRO 7 News Seattle

VERONA, Italy – (AP) – Cries of “Liberty!” Have echoed through the streets and squares of Italy and France as thousands show their opposition to plans to get vaccination cards for normal social activities like eating out at restaurants, visiting museums or that To require cheers in sports stadiums.

The leaders of both countries see the cards, called the ‘Green Passport’ in Italy and the ‘Health Passport’ in France, as necessary to increase vaccination rates and convince the undecided.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi compared the anti-vaccination message of some political leaders to a “call to die”.

The emerging demand is working, vaccination requests are booming in both countries.

Nevertheless, there are pockets of resistance among those who see this as a violation of civil liberties or have concerns about vaccine safety. About 80,000 people protested in cities across Italy last weekend, while thousands marched in Paris over the past three weekends and at times clashed with the police.

European nations have generally made strides in their vaccination rates in recent months, with or without incentives. No country has made the shots mandatory, and campaigns to convince the undecided are a patchwork quilt.

Denmark pioneered vaccination passages with little resistance. Belgium will require a certificate of vaccination for participation in outdoor events with more than 1,500 people by mid-August and indoor events by September. Germany and Great Britain have so far opposed a blanket approach, while vaccinations are so popular in Spain that incentives are not considered necessary.

In France and Italy, demonstrations against vaccination cards or virus restrictions in general bring together otherwise unlikely allies, often from the political extremes. These include far-right parties, fighters for economic justice, families with young children, opponents of vaccinations and those who fear them.

Many say vaccination record requirements are a source of inequality that will further divide society, and they draw uncomfortable historical parallels.

“We create a great inequality between the citizens,” said a demonstrator in Verona, who only pretended to be Simone because he feared for his existence. “We will have first class citizens who have access to public services, to the theater, to social life, and second class citizens who have no access. This thing led to apartheid and the Holocaust. “

Some protesters in Italy and France wore yellow stars of David, as the Nazis asked Jews to do during World War II.

Holocaust survivors call the comparison a distortion of history.

“These are madness, tasteless gestures that intersect with ignorance,” said Liliana Segre, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor and life-long Italian senator. “It is such a time of ignorance, of violence that has not even been repressed, that has become ripe for these distortions.”

Similar comparisons made during the protests in Britain were widely condemned. One of the most prominent anti-lockdown activists, Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, was arrested earlier this year after distributing a leaflet showing the comparison depicting the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The French Health Pass is required in museums, cinemas and attractions and comes into effect on August 9 for restaurants and trains. To get it, people must be fully vaccinated, have a recent negative test, or have evidence that they have recently recovered from COVID-19.

Italy’s requirements are less stringent. Only one vaccination dose is required, which will be in effect for outdoor restaurants, cinemas, stadiums, museums and other meeting places from August 6th. An extension of the requirement to long-distance transport is being considered. A negative test within 48 hours or proof of recovery from the virus in the last six months also entitles access.

The demand for vaccines in Italy rose by up to 200% in some regions after the government announced the Green Passport, according to the country’s special envoy on vaccinations.

In France, nearly 5 million received a first dose and more than 6 million received a second dose in the two weeks after President Emmanuel Macron announced that virus passes would be extended to restaurants and many other public establishments. Before that, the demand for vaccinations had been falling for weeks.

A full 15% of Italians are still resistant to the vaccination message: 7% describe themselves as undecided and 8% as opposed to vaccination, according to a survey by the SWG. The survey of 800 adults carried out from July 21 to 23 shows an error rate of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The top reasons given by more than half of respondents for hesitating or refusing to vaccinate are fears of serious side effects and concerns that the vaccines have not been adequately tested. Another 25% said they didn’t trust doctors, 12% said they weren’t afraid of the virus, and 8% denied it existed.

This leaves some difficult-to-penetrate sections of the population.

About 2 million Italians over 60 remain unvaccinated, despite being given preference in the spring. In Lombardy alone, the epicenter of the Italian outbreak, thousands remain unprotected.

The city of Milan sends mobile vans with vaccines and other supplies to another neighborhood every day. They reach out to the reluctant with flyers and social media posts, vaccinating 100-150 people daily with Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine.

Rosi De Filippis, 68, got the shot under pressure from a daughter.

“In any case, it somehow became mandatory,” said De Filippis. “In the beginning we didn’t know everything we know today. So I decided to continue. “

Companies in Italy and France are reluctant to accept the passports as they are concerned about how private companies can enforce public order. Denmark’s experience suggests that compliance will become easier over time – and vaccination rates will rise.

“The first few months were not good,” recalls Sune Helmgaard, whose restaurant in Copenhagen serves hearty, classic Danish cuisine. In the spring, vaccination rates were still low and customers could not always get tested in time.

But with more than 80% of eligible Danes having received at least one vaccination and more than 60% fully vaccinated, Helmgaard’s business is back to pre-pandemic levels.

“People feel more secure,” he said, “so the Danes like to show their passport.”

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Associated press reporters from all over Europe contributed to this.

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