Tens of thousands of people rallied in Vienna, the capital of Austria, on Saturday in protest against restrictions introduced to halt the spread of coronavirus in the country, including mandatory COVID-19 vaccines and home confinement orders for the unvaccinated.

Some 1,400 police officers were on duty to oversee the protest, which attracted an estimated 44,000 people and followed a similar demonstration in Vienna last week.

The protesters chanted, "We are the people" and "resistance " as they marched through the capital city, carrying  banners that read, "No to compulsory vaccination" and "Hands off our children." 

Three people were arrested for offenses, said the police, adding that journalists covering the event, which began in Heldenplatz square, were also attacked.

The crowd was addressed by Herbert Kickl, leader of the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party, who attacked the government's response to the pandemic, saying the protests would continue.

Separately, around 2,500 protested against the restrictions in Klagenfurt, while 150 people demonstrated in Linz.

Faced with surging daily infections, Austria last month became the first country in Western Europe to reimpose a lockdown and said it would make vaccinations mandatory from February.

Austria, which has a population of 8.9 million people, has reported 1.2 million COVID-19 cases and over 13,000 deaths since the pandemic began last year.

(With input from Reuters)