A rally against compulsory vaccinations was held in New York

Participants in a rally in front of City Hall in New York on Friday opposed the wearing of masks in schools and the mandatory vaccination against coronavirus of employees of municipal enterprises.

More than 3,000 municipal workers in New York City – teachers, doctors, nurses, firefighters and police officers who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus – are to be fired on Friday. City officials expect that the threat of losing their jobs will force them to get vaccinated. In addition, since Thursday, New York City has abolished the mandatory wearing of masks indoors, with the exception of schools. Many parents and teachers are unhappy with the decision.

As a result, several dozen people, including teachers, doctors, several firefighters and parents of schoolchildren gathered in the park in front of City Hall in south Manhattan. The number turned out to be small because many expected to keep their jobs with the help of labor unions, which had previously criticized authorities’ plans for sweeping layoffs.

“I worked as a nurse for the entire pandemic, for two years. The conditions were difficult, we didn’t have enough coronavirus tests for ourselves at times. And now they want to fire us,” said one of the protesters, who identified herself as Stephanie. Some protesters said they had been vaccinated themselves, but advocated that people should be able to choose whether or not to get vaccinated, rather than go along with government pressure to do so.

“It’s hard for kids to wear masks, it’s harder for us to interact with them. The Omicron wave is over, stop torturing us and them,” said John Spencer, who said he works as a teacher in Staten Island, a New York City neighborhood.

Order in the area of the rally was ensured by reinforced police squads, and the event passed quietly.