Tens of thousands of people in Austria took part in protests over the weekend against the government’s mandatory vaccination stance, the first country in the EU to do so.

Chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg said on Sunday that this would be a “minor interference” compared to the alternatives.

A 35,000-strong crowd of protesters in Vienna, chanted slogans “no to vaccination”, “enough is enough” or “down with the fascist dictatorship” as they led an anti-lockdown march that began at the former imperial palace and down to Vienna’s inner ring road before moving towards Hofburg, reports The Guardian.

Other demonstrations took place on Saturday in Sankt Poelten and Klagenfurt, involving around 3,500 and 5,000 people respectively. Eleven arrests were made in Sankt Poelten, the majority of them for “aggressive behaviour”.

The newly-formed, anti-vaccination, People, Freedom, Fundamental Rights party (MFG), has been instrumental in planning these protests, BBC reports. The Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), the third largest in the country’s parliament also vehemently opposes Covid restrictions. The party’s new leader has expressed false, misleading views, such as describing the vaccination programme as a genetic experiment.

During an interview with Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, the Chancellor said that the government had “sadly” been forced to turn to mandatory vaccination to strengthen the rate of full vaccination, currently just below 67%, one of the lowest in Western Europe.

With the present rate “we will never get out of the vicious circle of new waves and new debates on lockdowns,” he said.

“Every lockdown is a heavy interference in fundamental rights. Compared to that, compulsory vaccination is a minor interference,” he added.

Due to the soaring case numbers, the government implemented a partial lockdown on Monday, yet schools remain open.