Fri | Jul 3, 2026

Thousands march in Rome to protest workplace vaccine rule

Published:Saturday | October 9, 2021 | 7:33 PM
People gather in Piazza del Popolo square during a protest, in Rome, Saturday, October 9, 2021. Thousands of demonstrators protested Saturday in Rome against the COVID-19 health pass that Italian workers, both the public and private sectors, must display to access their workplaces from October 15 under a government decree. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

ROME (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators marched down Rome's famous Via Veneto and other streets on Saturday, some smashing their way into a union office and clashing with police as they protested Italy's new “Green Pass” vaccination requirement for employees to enter their offices.

The certification is mandatory beginning on October 15 and applies to public and private workplaces. Both employees and employers risk fines if they don't comply.

Public sector workers can be suspended if they show up five times without a Green Pass.

The pass is already required in Italy to enter museums, theatres, gyms and indoor restaurants, as well as to take long-distance trains and buses or domestic flights.

The passes show that a person has had least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, or recovered from the virus in the last six months, or has tested negative in the last 48 hours.

The protesters first held a noisy, authorised protest Saturday in Rome's Piazza Del Popolo.

Then they left the vast square and clashed with police as they headed through Villa Borghese Park and down the Via Veneto in an unauthorised march.

A few hundred protesters broke off and headed down another street in Rome's historic main shopping district that ends near Premier Mario Draghi's office in Chigi Palace.

Police formed a line, aided by police vans, and sprayed water to thwart access to the seat of the Italian government.

Police swung at some demonstrators with batons.

Many protesters in the front lines outside Chigi Palace raised their arms to indicate non-violence as they faced off with police.

Others raised clenched fists or waved Italian flags and shouted “Freedom!” One banner read “Get your hands off (our) work.”

Rai State TV said demonstrators numbered at least 10,000, while organisers claimed 100,000 people.

At least one protester was injured, RAI said. Among the protesters were proponents of an extreme right-wing group, Forza Nuova, Italian media reported.

It's “evident that neo-fascist groups hide behind the so-called anti-vaxxers,″ Interior Minister Undersecretary Carlo Sibilia said.

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