Protesters outside State House demand Baker rescind flu shot order
Among the demonstrators were a toddler with a sign around his neck that said “My parents call the shots” and a woman with a shirt wrapped around her waist that read “Flu you Baker.”
Demonstrators crowded outside the State House Sunday morning demanded that Governor Charlie Baker rescind a public health mandate that requires most Massachusetts students get the flu vaccine to attend school.
Earlier this month, Baker announced what is believed to be a first-in-the-nation order requiring the vaccination for anyone 6 months or older who is in facilities such as schools, colleges and universities, and day care centers.
The mandate, which is intended to reduce flu-related illness during the coronavirus pandemic, has been supported by public health experts. Officials fear that outbreaks of the flu and COVID-19 could overwhelm the state’s health care system.
“I would hope people would understand this is an important part of how we continue to fight the [corona]virus here in Massachusetts,” Baker told reporters at a State House news briefing on Aug 20. “The more people who get the flu shot don’t get the flu and don’t wind up in the ER.”
On Sunday outside the State House, protesters, some with young children, crowded along Beacon Street to protest the flu shot mandate for students.
Overhead, a television news helicopter was flying as demonstrators occasionally chanted, “We will not comply, we will not comply!”
Among them were a toddler with a sign around his neck that said “My parents call the shots” and a woman with a shirt wrapped around her waist that read “Flu you Baker.”
On Facebook, Oppose Overreach – Health Choice 4 Action MA and No Mandatory Flu Shot MA, which organized the rally, called for parents to “stand in solidarity” against the flu vaccine mandate.
“This is a protest created for the parents, by the parents to protect our parental rights and children’s future!” the Facebook post said, calling the state order “outrageous.”
At the rally, police officers were staying away from the crowd, and did not wear helmets, batons, face shields, or carry visible zip-ties, unlike officers who were on scene during protests in May and June.
The post said mask and social distancing rules, imposed by the state to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, would apply to the rally.
Many people at the rally were not wearing masks, however, or staying far apart from others.
At one point, a speaker called on the crowd to hug one another, he said, to remind each other that they are human. After he made the request, several people in the crowd could then be seen embracing each other.
Jessica Rinaldi of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
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