Anti-vaxx marchers shut down Brooklyn Bridge to protest vaccine mandate

Protesters waved signs saying ‘My body my choice,’ ‘Recognize natural immunity,’ and ‘Do not f*** with us’

Hundreds of demonstrators flooded the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday to protest a New York City vaccine mandate.

Early on Monday afternoon, all Manhattan-bound lanes of the bridge were blocked, the New York Police Department said, as protesters marched with signs reading “We will not comply!” and “F*** de Blasio!”

New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced on Wednesday that the city’s police, firefighters, and other municipal workers will be required to get vaccinated for Covid-19 or be suspended without pay.

Most of those workers – 71 per cent, according to the city – have already had at least one shot of a Covid vaccine. The rest have until Friday, 29 October to get one.

But judging by the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday, many seem unlikely to comply. Protesters streamed over the bridge, waving signs saying “My body my choice,” “Recognize natural immunity,” and “Do not f*** with us.”

“Leave us alone and let us work,” one marcher, firefighter Sofia Medina, told the New York Post. “Get out of the way for those of us who want to work and show up on time.”

“Thousands of good cops and city municipal workers stand to lose their jobs,” an unnamed police officer told the paper. “Are the good people of New York City confident [that] adequate people will fill those positions?”

Mr de Blasio says the city has contingency plans for any staff shortages, and blames vaccine misinformation for the holdouts’ reluctance.

“There’s so much misinformation out there, and people have been told things that just aren’t true about the vaccine, but thank God the vast, vast majority of New Yorkers [have gotten the shot],” the mayor said on Monday.

In New York City, 85 per cent of adults are at least partially vaccinated for Covid-19. All three of the vaccines available – Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson – have proven extremely effective and safe.

“So the vast majority of people have decided this is the right thing to do,” Mayor de Blasio said. “And the vast majority of New Yorkers have supported these mandates.”