The Los Angeles Fire Department was forced to shutdown the Dodger Stadium’s mass COVID-19 vaccination site– one of the largest in the country– on Saturday after dozens of protesters blocked the entrance, stalling hundreds of motorists who had been waiting in line for hours, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Los Angeles Fire Department closed the entrance to the stadium at about 2 p.m. as a precaution, officials told the newspaper.
An official said the fire department planned to reopen the vaccination site about 3 p.m. The site is usually open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The group reportedly consisted of anti-vaxxers and other far right groups, encouraging people not to take the COVID vaccine.
German Jaquez, a dentist who was waiting in line for more than an hour to get the vaccine told the LA Times, “this is completely wrong. This is the wrong message. I’ve been waiting for weeks to get an appointment. I am a dentist; I am taking a big risk being around patients. I want to be safe for my patients and for my family. The vaccine is the only way to beat the virus.”
The protest was described as a “SCAMDEMIC PROTEST/MARCH” and participants were advised not to wear any Trump attire to drown out the message they were trying to send.
“This is a sharing information protest and march against everything COVID, Vaccine, PCR Tests, Lockdowns, Masks, Fauci, Gates, Newsom, China, digital tracking, etc,” the organizers wrote on social media.
On a full day, the site will administer more than 7,000 doses of COVID vaccine. Los Angeles’ five vaccination sites have already administered vaccines to more than 80,000 people.
