RABAT: Hundreds of people demonstrated Sunday across Morocco to protest against a government-imposed coronavirus health pass, AFP reporters and local media reported. In Rabat, police officers, some in plain clothes, broke up an unauthorized gathering in the center of the capital and detained some participants, an AFP reporter said.
Youth from the hundreds of protesters who had staged the sit-in hurled projectiles at security forces. In the economic hub of Casablanca, where hundreds also rallied, protesters shouted: "No to the (health) pass," the Al3omk news website said. Local media said smaller protests took place in Tangiers, Fes and the tourist resort city of Agadir.
The Lakome2 news website said protesters in Agadir chanted slogans against "obligatory vaccination" and the "restriction of freedoms". Since Oct 21, Moroccans wishing to enter restaurants, shops, gyms, government offices, tourist sites and other public places must have a health pass showing proof of vaccination against the coronavirus.
COVID-19 infection rates in Morocco, a country of 36 million people, have been down for the past 10 weeks, and more than 22 million people have received two doses of the vaccine. Authorities are now aiming to get 80 percent of the population inoculated and have stepped up a booster dose campaign since early October. - AFP