Thousands in Brussels protest against COVID restrictions

BRUSSELS (AP) — Thousands of peaceful protesters have demonstrated in central Brussels for a third time against reinforced COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Belgian government to counter a spike in infections and the emergence of the worrying omicron variant. A strong police presence was deployed on streets in anticipation of the crowds, given how previous protests had descended into violence, arrests and injury. The marchers came to protest the government’s strong advice to get vaccinated. They included Belgian health care workers who will have a three-month window in which to get vaccinated against the coronavirus from Jan. 1. The Belgian action comes one day after similar protests in other capitals including Paris and London.