Capable of vaccinating about 8,000 people a day, Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium has become one of the city's key mass vaccination sites. On Saturday, however, Dodger Stadium temporarily shut down and halted vaccinations for an hour when about 50 maskless protesters gathered at the entrance to disrupt the operations. Coming from both anti-vaccination and right-wing groups, the protesters discouraged those in line from getting the vaccine by asserting how dangerous and unsafe it would be. They also discredited the pandemic, lockdowns, Gavin Newsom, news networks, and more.
The protesters' tactics mainly included shouting and holding up signs, although one allegedly "dressed as a police officer" and ordered people to exit. Los Angeles' fire department and police officers entered the scene to close Dodger Stadium as a precautionary measure, which ultimately lasted an hour. Eventually, the site reopened and resumed as usual; anyone who wanted the vaccination could still receive it. Overall, no violence ensued and no arrests were made. However, city officials and those in line were frustrated by the delay that had occurred.
We’re at the mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium to get my mom the vaccine. The anti–vax protestors have approached the entrance to the site. The LAPD have now closed the gate. We have been sitting here for about half an hour. Nobody is moving. pic.twitter.com/GrJPA5wrqx
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) January 30, 2021
What took place reflects the danger of misinformation. In general, the anti-vaccination movement has gained a substantial following. The protesters' misleading assertion of a "99.6% survival rate" for COVID and use of scaremongering are only part of a larger wave of misinformation, emphasizing a distrust in science. Such can be particularly dangerous, especially when considering that Los Angeles County reports an average of 7,000 new cases daily and a total death toll of 16,700. As the rollout of vaccines have mixed outcomes due to logistic issues, distrust and conspiracies will also be a challenge.
8 comments:
It's very frustrating that some people will simply ignore the facts and science on certain matters, especially regarding covid-19. The Trump administration and some parts of social media have certainly done their damage to the public with the spread of misinformation throughout the pandemic. As we're already over a year in from the first coronavirus case reported in the U.S., it's insane that some people are still undermining the virus. This vaccine rollout is an extremely crucial stage right now in ending the coronavirus, so when protestors show up with their baseless anti-vax theories and actually slow down the vaccine rollout process, it's disappointing to see.
This might connect to the fact that freedom of speech and protest are not absolute civil rights. Safety is almost always prioritized over these 1st amendment guarantees, and it's clear through the police involvement that their (maskless and intimidating) presence was endangering the health of many others. Extrapolating to the danger of misinformation, should people be allowed to spread misinformed claims of the virus on public airways if they lead to maskless protests and anti-vaccination efforts like this? That misinformation is clearly endangering and losing lives, and sometimes in emergencies freedom of speech/protest are restricted even if there is no direct danger to safety. You can’t organize people forgoing the draft, or often have immense demonstrations against the government in wartime. During COVID-19, this appears to be even more marked, as our own population is dying daily and we can pinpoint one clear cause as misinformation campaigns about COVID-19. Emergencies call for dire action and sometimes restriction of peacetime rights.
It's disappointing and quite frankly embarrassing to see things like this happening, especially after hundreds of thousands have died due to COVID-19. While first amendment rights are important, one must question the degree to which they should be prioritized. As easy as it is to say that the actions of maskless protestors are reckless and an endangerment to society, suspending the first amendment rights of a anybody people is not only difficult to do, but would also elicit strong disagreement and criticism. As Danny mentioned, the spread of false information is all the more harmful when it has the potential to physically harm and even kill others. The protestors have the upper hand, as they have been able to delay vaccinations of many (presumably to the delight of anti-vax protestors) and attract the attention of the media. Hopefully, local officials will find a way to dispose of the protestors without risking the health of workers who come into contact with maskless people.
I am fine with these people protesting, even without masks (I disagree with it, but it is their decision). The part that makes this infuriating is the fact that they put other people in danger of catching the virus by protesting extremely close to the vaccination site, and they are making it extremely hard for people to get the vaccine. They can protest, just do it somewhere else where it doesn't endanger others. I would think even if they didn't believe it, out of respect of the people who are afraid of the virus, they would move to a different area, but apparently not. What is even more concerning is this is just *one* incident. I am sure there are plenty of other of these incidents happening around the country. This is especially frightening taking into consideration that there are new strains being found that are more resistant to some of the vaccines we have released, as more strains will pop up more frequently as more people get the virus, and preventing the virus from mutating that much means we need rapid mass vaccinations, which is now going to have another hinderance on top of the supply chain: these protestors. I honestly don't get it: even if these people don't agree with vaccination or the fact that the virus exists in general, they don't think they can force everyone to conform to their unsupported beliefs, do they? Another thing I don't understand is how people don't believe in the virus, but in the end they can choose to believe what they want: that isn't the issue. The issue is them putting others in danger. Good on the city for clearing up the area relatively quickly in order to resume vaccinations.
I had first noticed the budding trend of misinformation back in 2015 as the presidential race ramped up ahead of the 2016 election. Misinformation has always proved as dangerous to society and progression. However, the blatant spread of misinformation has increased in frequency, and it shocks me that so many people have come to believe it even with the presence of facts. Additionally, while people will and can have multiple different opinions and beliefs, putting other individuals at risk is unacceptable. In this maskless demonstration people ignorantly put others at risk of getting Covid-19. LA has become an epicenter for this virus, and hundreds of thousands of people have died. As others have stated in their comments, while these individuals have the right to free speech, they cannot put others at risk while exercising this right.
While people are allowed their own right to protest even if it brings distaste to my mouth. Their choice to protest outside of a vaccination site, not only puts all these already high risk people at an even higher risk, but is also making it even harder for them to get vaccines and slowing down the whole process. Just because they choose to not think that the pandemic is a very real thing and believe all this misinformation, doesn't mean that they should impede people who do believe it. While you are allowed to your rights to free speech, crossing the line where you are now putting people at risk, is not one you should cross. Therefore the issue isn't stemming from their choice to protest but instead where they decided to do so, and how they were putting others at risk.
I respect their right to protest and I believe that their actions are protected under the first amendment right of free speech since they did not incite violence or imminent lawless action. However, it can be dangerous to spread misleading information especially given the infectiousness of covid and the real deaths that occur because of it. According to USA news, Fauci had testified to Congress that the mortality rate may be as low as 1% when accounting for people who have covid but do not develop symptoms and therefore go untested. But given the contagiousness of the disease, that 1% is "a very dire figure." Additionally, this 1% claim does not account for the variations in age, since older people are more likely to die from covid. I do think that the people going to the vaccination site to get the vaccines probably have already done their research and will not change their minds about getting it. That is not to say though that the statistics the protestors are claiming are completely justified. Especially for those who are contemplating on whether to get the vaccine, the partly false claim could steer people away from getting it, thereby putting the public at more risk. I think that people should have the free choice to decide whether they should or should not get the vaccine without being pressured by people from both sides of the opinion. People should do their research and should be more wary of the information they are reading/hearing especially given these times of increased politicization of covid.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/05/05/covid-19-fact-check-coronavirus-mortality-rate-misleading/3019503001/
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