Health care workers, supporters protest vaccine mandate in Portland, Maine
Hundreds of Mainers opposed to the state’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers protested Saturday outside Maine Medical Center in Portland. The protesters, many of whom are health care workers, called for personal choice in medical decisions, with some also spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about vaccines and COVID-19.
“We are not anti-anything,” an organizer said to the crowd. “We support the right to choose.”
Emily Nixon, a home care nurse, said
“We have all had the opportunity to receive the vaccine, and we have all said ‘no,'” to cheers from the crowd.receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
“They’re using health care workers as guinea pigs,” said Justin Whynot, a home remodeler from Windham who carried an American flag. He predicted that the next step would be to mandate vaccination for the general public, adding, “They’re going to force the jab on everybody.”
Justin Whynot, a home remodeler from Windham who carried an American flag,
incorrectly said that the vaccines are unsafe, and instead promoted unproven remedies such as hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug with no COVID-19 benefits touted by former President Donald Trump.
F. Ron Jenkins, an attorney, accused the CDC of reporting “bogus” numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths to “terrorize us.” Speaking to the crowd, he
said public health officials are part of a “well-executed authoritarian plan” to spread fear and make money by selling “their precious vaccine.
https://www.pressherald.com/2021/08/14/health-care-workers-supporters-protest-vaccine-mandate-in-portland/
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