Protesters say vaccination warrants are legalized segregation (video)

POUGHKEEPSIE – A group of protesters gathered outside the Bardavon Opera Saturday night to protest COVID vaccination requirements. Bardavon demanded that all attendees attend a performance of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic on Saturday evening show proof of vaccination to enter the historic theater. Bardavon’s full COVID policy can be viewed here.

Protesters including Dr Giovanni Mazzarelli, a chiropractor from Poughkeepsie, gathered on Market Street as spectators arrived for the show. Many protesters held placards denouncing the media, calling the pandemic a hoax, and generally speaking out against vaccine requirements. Poughkeepsie Town Police were dispatched to the area as protesters stood on Market Street and also gathered across the street outside the Dutchess County office building.

Mazzarelli said sites requiring proof of vaccination practice segregation. “Segregation and discrimination are not acceptable,” he said. He also expressed frustration with school districts that have established immunization requirements. “I have three healthy children who were kicked out of school when religious exemptions were denied in 2019,” Mazzarelli told Mid-Hudson News. The Dutchess County resident said he chose not to be injected with the COVID vaccine.

Mazzarelli’s reference to ending religious exemptions in 2019 refers to the state’s repeal of the exemption that allowed students to avoid vaccinations required for elementary and secondary schools because of their religious beliefs. The repeal was the result of a measles epidemic that swept through the country. The repeal gave school officials the right to ban unvaccinated students from entering buildings. It covered all public, private and charter schools. At the time, New York City did not require school-aged children to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Mazzarelli argued that his children were expelled from their schools, but he was still required to pay school taxes.

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