Kazakhstan: vaccine opponents demand the resignation of government
A protest action against compulsory vaccination took place in Kostanay. According to eyewitnesses, about two hundred people attended the rally.
The protesters demanded a ban on compulsory vaccination against coronavirus and free PCR testing. Some protesters demanded the resignation of the government, which violates the constitutional rights of citizens.
It should be noted that there is no officially compulsory vaccination in Kazakhstan. However, on July 1, a resolution was issued by the chief sanitary doctor of the republic, which spelled out the restriction of admission to full-time work for workers who didn’t receive vaccination against COVID-19. The list of organizations, that were banned from allowing unvaccinated employees to work, included banks, post offices, beauty salons, hairdressers, baths, saunas, shopping centers, exchange offices, pawn-shops, dry cleaners, laundries, fitness centers, sports complexes, massage parlors, advertising agencies, insurance companies, real estate agencies, public service centers, printing houses, photo salons, sewing workshops, swimming pools, repair shops for shoes and clothes, shops of office equipment, lawyers and notaries offices, accounting and consulting companies, museums, libraries, theaters, cinemas, concert halls, hotels, pharmacies, nursing homes, etc. That is, almost the entire service sector. As an alternative to being allowed to work, people were offered to take weekly PCR tests instead of vaccination, the cost of which in Kazakhstan is about $ 16-20. At the same time, the average salary in the service sector in the country is about $ 350. According to the decree, only those, who have permanent medical contraindications, and those, who have had COVID-19 in the past three months, are not subject to vaccination. According to the decree, workers must be vaccinated with the first component by July 15 and the second component by August 15.
At the same time, the size of fines for employers for admitting unvaccinated employees to work will range from $ 2,200 to $ 14,200, depending on the size of the organization (small, medium or big business). Frightened by such prospects, employers, under threat of dismissal, began to forcibly send their employees for vaccination, regardless of the presence of medical contraindications.
It’s for this reason that the population of the republic reacted very negatively to the decision of the chief sanitary doctor. On social networks, people write angry petitions to the President of the country demanding that this decree be canceled. And lawyers from Almaty announced their intention to appeal against this decision in court.
Meanwhile, in Kostanay, the mayor of the city Kairat Akhmetov came out to the protesters. He promised the protesters that until July 15, none of the entrepreneurs will be fined for the presence of unvaccinated employees. At the same time, the head of the city called on people to get vaccinated in order to quickly overcome the pandemic. In response, people said that the benefits of vaccination haven’t been proven by anyone other than the World Health Organization and called it a fascist organization.
Meanwhile, the day before in the city court of Kostanay, a trial was held on the case of civil activist Sergei Zinchenko, who is accused of urging people to go to a rally against forced vaccination on social networks. Zinchenko himself didn’t admit his guilt, stating that he didn’t do it. However, the judge still brought him to administrative responsibility.
