A member of staff poses with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination health centre in Cardiff, South Wales' on December 8, 2020
A member of staff poses with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination health centre in Cardiff, South Wales' on December 8, 2020 POOL / JUSTIN TALLIS

Thousands of protestors gathered in some major European cities Saturday over COVID-19 passports and new restrictions.

On Monday, new rules in France will go into effect requiring people to have a COVID pass for any flights, sports events, bars, restaurants, movie theaters and major gatherings in public areas. Hundreds gathered in Paris to protest the new guidelines.

Other cities that saw protests include Athens, Helsinki, Finland, London, and Stockholm.

Around 3,000 people gathered in Stockholm, where vaccine certificates are required for indoor events of 50 or more people. This protest was organized by the Sweden Freedom Movement. It attracted many major groups like the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement and right-wing extremists.

Sweden’s second-biggest city, Gothenburg, saw 1,000 demonstrators.

Around 4,000 people gathered in Helsinki, where the Finnish government in December declared that “extensive and full measures” must be in place to tackle the pandemic.