Lidia Kelly

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Several thousand protestors rallied in Melbourne on Saturday against the new vaccine mandates. Some called for violence against politicians and compared the state government with Nazis, according to local media.

National vaccinations in Australia are voluntary, with 83% of 16-year-olds and over fully inoculated against coronavirus. However, many states and territories mandate vaccinations. The unvaccinated are prohibited from participating in activities like dining out or concerts.

The Age reported that there was no peaceful demonstration in Melbourne in opposition to Saturday’s vaccine mandate for construction workers in Victoria.

A reporter uploaded a video to Twitter (NYSE) showing a protester with mock gallows and three nooses attached. The newspaper also showed a man with a Hitler moustache carrying a poster of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

According to media reports, Craig Kelly (former Liberal Party parliamentarian and currently the leader of United Australia party) stated that “We’re being controlled by insane medical bureaucrats”.

According to The Age, some demonstrators called for violence towards politicians. However they did not give specifics.

Andrews office and the protest organizers couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

Australia witnessed anti-vaccine demonstrations which were sometimes violent in recent months. But the movement’s size is small and polls show that there is little support nationwide.

Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, is home to a quarter-million people. The 87% rate of vaccination has seen Victoria through six COVID-19 lockdowns, which lasted almost nine months.

Australia’s high vaccine rates played a key role in the decision to open international borders for the first-ever time since the pandemic.

New South Wales is the state with the highest population. It announced that it would welcome international students who have been vaccinated on December 6th. Victoria hopes to have some students return by the end this year.

On Saturday, 1,221 infections were reported in Victoria. Four deaths occurred. There were 250 cases per day in New South Wales.

The national death toll of 1,591 people and just over 190,000. infections in Delta virus outbreaks, which led to months-long lockdown in Sydney and Melbourne was far less than many other developed countries.

New Zealand’s neighbours are also learning how to cope with the coronavirus. 175 cases were reported by New Zealanders, making the total of confirmed cases from the pandemic at 8,121. The total number of deaths has reached 33.