Last week, the Latvian government took the hard decision of going back into lockdown after opening entirely in the summer. The two opposing sides for and against the vaccines are coming to the contrast observed in most countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Eastern European countries Bulgaria and Romania see Covid cases rising, and hospitals are struggling to cope with the increasing amount of patients needing treatment. Eastern European countries have the lowest vaccination rate while still dealing with protests against the implementation of the Covid vaccine. Bulgaria is the poorest European country and is implementing even though it could help boost its economy by putting it back on track. The government is trying to maintain the service industry running by imposing the health bill of obligatory vaccination and demanding the vaccine for customers to be serviced in restaurants and bars.
The mistrust towards the vaccines and the government is rising to maintain the lowest vaccination rate in Europe. One in four is vaccinated, while in Portugal, the percentage reaches almost 90%, together with Malta. Earlier this week, France, US and Canada imposed stricter rules demanding proof of vaccination for all places that would result in crowds accumulation, such as entering malls in France and having a meal indoors.
Protests against vaccines
While protests peak all over the world and not just in Europe, governments are determined not to back down on the health bill while some are also imposing a booster shot so that the vaccination passport can be up to date and can carry on using it either for travelling, work-related or studying purposes.
The Eurobarometer has progressively proved that at least one in three Eastern European citizens mistrust the health system opposing the European average of 18%. Romania’s percentage of mistrusting the public healthcare system rises up to 40% while they keep on counting Covid victims keeping adult immunisation to the second-lowest rate in the zone.