The biggest protests are expected to be in the coastal port of Rostock and state capital Schwerin. A previous protest on December 27 in Schwerin attracted a few thousand people.

The focus of much protesters’ anger is a possible compulsory vaccination law favoured by the coalition government.

Germany’s vaccination rate is at just over 71 per cent and is only creeping up slowly. Many of those who have already had two jabs are having boosters, but a significant proportion of the population – 25.8 per cent – is not vaccinated at all. This includes children aged 5 and under who are generally not yet eligible.

Unvaccinated individuals already face more restrictions in terms of access to public life – including being barred from many shops and leisure facilities – in Germany.

Omid Nouripour, a candidate for chairman of the governing Green Party, told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Monday that he had recently changed his mind on the issue of compulsory vaccination, and would no longer rule it out.

“The burden on the majority who follow all the rules and are also vaccinated, weighs more heavily” now, he explained.

The official ethics commission has come out in favour of broadening compulsory vaccination – already in place for health workers – to the rest of the population.

On Monday, the national Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control recorded an increase in the seven-day incidence rate for the fifth consecutive day, and it now stands at 232.4. Sixty-eight more people died.