NEW YORK (PNN) - August 29, 2021 - Over 1,000 people flooded New York City streets again to protest the unlawful COVID-19 vaccine mandate and then gathered in Columbus Circle where speakers fired up the crowd.
One woman said, “This is a war call. This is a fight. Leave here and do something. Fight for your rights.”
While the demonstration unfolded Saturday afternoon, Mayor Bill di Blasio's tweeted pictures from Harlem and praised the faith community Hope of Harlem's work at COVID-19 community outreach.
The protest is in reaction to the unlawful requirement for people ages 12 and older to show proof they've received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to get into restaurants or bars, gyms and indoor entertainment such as movies and theaters.
The unlawful mandate - dubbed “Key to NYC” - went into effect August 17.
The mayor also said New York City will require all Department of Education employees to have received at least one dose of the vaccine by September 27, even though he has no constitutional authority to make such a demand.
Protestors have been showing up in droves in the Big Apple all week.
City union workers - particularly teachers - have become enraged at the city's unlawful mandate. Some teachers have announced they're leaving the union, and the NYC PBA has threatened to sue the city.
Demonstrators chanted sayings like, “My body, my choice,” on their way to Columbus Circle Saturday afternoon.
They held signs saying, “Stop the medical tyranny,” “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery”, and “Coercion is not consent”, among dozens of others.
People against the vaccine have argued that they're concerned with long-term effects from the vaccine and alluded to breakthrough cases as to why the vaccine isn't working.
On the other side of the argument, health professionals and NYC decision makers who put the mandate in place have said most of the COVID-19 cases today are because of what they claim is a highly contagious Delta variant; though there has not been one instance in which the alleged virus has been isolated, meaning it does not appear to actually exist.
