Tens of thousands hold rival vaccine protests across Germany

Berlin: Tens of thousands of vaccination supporters and pandemic deniers rallied across Germany on Saturday as tight COVID-19 restrictions continued to apply to those resisting the shot.

Around 8,500 people took to the streets in the southwestern city of Freiburg, according to the public broadcaster ARD. Some 6,000 of them protested curbs on public and private life, while 2,500 staged a rival demonstration. Further 3,000 demonstrators critical of COVID-19 dissidents rallied in the northern port city of Hamburg.

The rally was called to rival a planned anti-vax gathering that was cancelled as an infection security risk. Hundreds of maskless protesters defied the ban to rally outside Hamburger Kunsthalle, leading to sporadic clashes with police.

Thousands more people demonstrated in Osnabruck, Schwerin, Munich, Furth and Dusseldorf.