Anti-vaxxers rally in Bern

Claims included a denial that there was a pandemic. Keystone / Anthony Anex

Some 3,000 people opposed to the Swiss government’s anti-coronavirus measures gathered near Bern on Friday in a peaceful protest that had been authorised by the city authorities. Police were present but did not intervene.

Speakers included Robert F. Kennedy Junior, nephew of the former US president of the same name whose radical anti-vaccination views have led part of his family to distance themselves from him. He called Switzerland the last bastion of democracy and urged its citizens to reject the government’s Covid law, which will be put to a popular vote on November 28.

They also included organic farmer and Zurich local MP Urs Hans who told the crowd “there has never been a pandemic”, to which they chanted “Freedom!”

The coronavirus situation in Switzerland has worsened since the onset of winter, with nearly 4,000 new cases, seven deaths and 68 people hospitalized in the last 24 hours, according to the Federal Office of Public Health. About 65% of the population is now fully vaccinated.

Public protests against government anti-Covid restrictions have continued especially since the Covid certificate was extended in September to indoor spaces such as bars and restaurants.