Dodger Stadium’s mass COVID-19 vaccination site was temporarily shut down Saturday afternoon when anti-vaccine and far-right groups descended upon one of the largest vaccination sites in the country, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The LA Times reported that some of the anti-vaccine and far-right groups who showed up at the Dodger Stadium carried signs discrediting the COVID-19 vaccine and shouted at people at urge against getting vaccinated. There were no incidents of violence.
As a precaution, the Los Angeles Fire Department closed the entrance to the stadium for about an hour starting just before 2 p.m. Additionally, several LAPD officers responded to the scene. A spokeswoman for the LAPD told the LA Times that no arrests were made.
A fire department official told the LA Times that the Dodger Stadium vaccination site reopened a few minutes before 3 p.m.
Andrea Garcia, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, told the LA Times that no appointments were canceled even with the 55-minute interruption.
German Jaquez, who had been waiting an hour to receive his vaccination when the stadium’s gates were closed, told the LA Times that some of the protesters were spouting false claims of COVID-19 being a myth and unfounded claims that vaccination is dangerous to people in line.
The LA Times noted that a social media post called the demonstration at the Dodger Stadium as the “Scamdemic Protest/March.” It urged participants to “please refrain from wearing Trump/MAGA attire as we want our statement to resonate with the sheeple. No flags but informational signs only.”
“This is a sharing information protest and march against everything COVID, Vaccine, PCR Tests, Lockdowns, Masks, Fauci, Gates, Newsom, China, digital tracking, etc.,” the social media post said.
According to the LA Times, a livestreamed video showed signs that read “Save Your Soul TURN BACK NOW,” “CNN IS LYING TO YOU,” “RECALL GAVIN NEWSOM” and “TAKE OFF YOUR MASK.” Some handed out pamphlets to motorists and some cars blared their horns as they drove by the site.
The scene happened amid Los Angeles becoming the nation’s largest COVID-19 hot spot. On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported more than 6,900 new cases.
