Inspired by the demonstrations in Canada, hundreds of people protest against mandatory vaccination and the strict restrictive measures imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic, in front of New Zealand’s parliament, in the city of Wellington. On Tuesday (8), protesters, who call themselves members of the “freedom train”, gathered ahead of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s first speech of the year.
According to international media, protesters held up signs calling for freedom and promised to camp outside the parliament building, called the Beehive, until the lockdowns were lifted. The prime minister did not meet with the protesters and told journalists that they “do not represent the majority opinion”. “Most New Zealanders did everything they could to keep each other safe,” Ardern said.
Contrary to what has been heard in the Europe, the official said that the pandemic will not end with the Ômicron variant and that New Zealand will have to prepare for more variants of the virus. In the last two years, the Ardern government has imposed some of the toughest and longest restrictions.
Despite the low number of cases – in a country of 5 million people, there were 18,000 confirmed cases and 53 deaths – the measures affected the lives of tens of thousands of New Zealand expatriates who were isolated outside the country and devastated businesses dependent on tourism. . The prime minister’s approval ratings have plummeted because of delays in vaccines and the end of lockdowns. Last week, the government said the borders would open progressively from October.
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