Dodger Stadium mass vaccination site was briefly closed by anti-vaxxers over the weekend, police say

by



[ad_1]

Los Angeles firefighters temporarily closed the entrance to the Dodger Stadium vaccination site on Saturday for 55 minutes, Andrea Garcia, spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, told CNN on Monday.

Hundreds of cars lined up for the vaccine as anti-vaccination protesters held messages outside, CNN affiliate KCAL / KCBS reported.

The affiliate video showed a sign reading “LA Better Dodge The Vaxxx”; another reading “Covid = Scam.”

Officer Drake Madison, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department, told CNN the protesters were “anti-vaxxers.” The rally was conducted peacefully and no arrests were made, he said.

Protesters may have caused authorities to close doors out of caution, but they haven’t stopped people from getting vaccinated during this time, Garcia told CNN. No appointment has been canceled.

“The city is reviewing the vaccination site security protocol and will set up a protest zone in case of future protests,” Garcia said in an email.

Protesters holding anti-vaccination placards stand alongside cars carrying people waiting to be vaccinated.

Dodger Stadium is one of the largest vaccination sites in the country. Garcetti boasted that the site had the capacity to vaccinate 12,000 people every day, he said the day before the site opened.

More than 31.1 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data released Sunday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Los Angeles County has administered 790,902 doses of the vaccine as of Jan. 25, according to its Department of Public Health.

“Everyone we met there who had an appointment was accommodated,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told CNN on Monday.

The vaccination process has been emotional, he said.

“It’s not just a physical toll but also an emotional impact for us,” Humphrey said. “It’s a very emotional time for many of these people who are getting vaccinated. Maybe they lost their parents or something, you know, and they’re sobbing and we give them an injection. We do it thousands of times each day. “

The vaccination program is a joint effort between the mayor’s office and firefighters, Los Angeles firefighter spokesman David Ortiz said on Saturday. Vaccine appointments run from 8 am to 8 pm and other appointments will be offered “as soon as we receive a new vaccine allocation,” he said.

CNN’s Claudia Dominguez and Braden Walker contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link