Hundreds of mandatory vaccination opponents gathered in Grand Park in Los Angeles for a March for Freedom rally on Monday, shortly after city authorities introduced a vaccination deadline for municipal workers.
The protesters were seen carrying American flags and posters, with many of them wearing uniforms of local emergency and supply services.
According to the ABC7, "local firefighters, law enforcement, parents, local Latino and African-American community leaders and others who are being threatened by the vaccine mandate" were expected to attend the protest.
"The Vaccine Mandate will cause the loss of a highly trained and skilled workforce in Los Angeles," organizers of the rally said in a statement. "This will not only cause pain, suffering and mental anguish to the employees that are to be terminated, it will also deny the protection, safety and city services the residents of this great city have been afforded by their elected officials who have now created this new set of problems."
The vaccine mandate in Los Angeles was said to the one of the strictest in the US, as all workers of the city's indoor facilities and visitors under 12 were required to provide vaccination certificates, according to a new ordinance, issued earlier in the day. The deadline for municipal workers was set for December 18.
California mandated vaccinations for public sector workers for several months in accordance with federal and local government orders, but some cities, including Los Angeles, have adopted stricter requirements, stipulating that employees must be vaccinated and cannot be routinely tested as an alternative.
The measure has not been unanimously accepted by locals. In September, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officials filed a lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccination requirements, alleging that the city and police created a "hostile work environment" for those unvaccinated and that the vaccine mandate violates the privacy and civil rights of employees.