In much of the west, the walls are closing in on anti-vaxxers

Want to be unvaccinated in Austria? After a February mandate takes effect, that will cost you thousands of dollars in running quarterly fines. As cases spike in Italy — a country with tragic memories of the toll of covid-19 — everyone over 50 must be vaccinated, officials announced last week. If workers over 50 fail to prove they have either been vaccinated or recently recovered from the virus, they face suspension from work starting Feb. 15, Politico reported. This on top of Italy’s strict Green Pass program that already makes life far more complicated for the unvaccinated.

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Increasingly, the West is rewarding the vaccinated, while maintaining pandemic-related burdens on the unvaccinated. Belgium last week opted to drop its requirement for fully vaccinated people to self-isolate if they come into contact with an infected person — but the unvaccinated must still isolate for 10 days.

In Germany, lawmakers say a proposed vaccine mandate may take months to pass. In the meantime, the Germans have sharply rolled back access to public spaces for the unvaccinated. Across Europe, the unvaccinated have pushed back against mandates and lockdowns, sometimes violently, and arguing government overreach. Last week, the Independent reported, German police were “attacked with bottles, fireworks and one was even bitten” during anti-vaccine mandate protests numbering 35,000 people in cities across the country.

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