Scores of people opposed to coronavirus vaccinations rallied at the state legislature on Tuesday, demanding that lawmakers act on a proposal to prohibit businesses, hospitals and other entities from requiring that people be vaccinated.
House Bill 558 also would essentially stop mandatory vaccinations for students to attend school in North Carolina, saying families philosophically opposed to vaccinations could still enroll their children.
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The bill was filed three weeks ago, but it has not had a committee hearing yet. The General Assembly has a May 13 deadline for such policy bills to pass either the House or the Senate to be eligible for further consideration this session, so vaccine opponents turned out in force to push House leaders to move the bill forward.
The opponents called for "body autonomy," saying they shouldn't be forced to get the shot. Many said the vaccines are still experimental and could be unsafe.
"If you’re forced to put something in your body without your consent, that literally is Nazi Germany. This is basic human rights were talking about," said a man who identified himself only as "David."
Health experts say the risks posed by coronavirus and other communicable diseases far outweigh the potential side-effects from vaccines.
"I’m really concerned about all the people who will be discriminated [against] if they can’t get a vaccine," Monica Molina said. "We’re discriminating against a whole class of people, and that’s not what this country is founded on."
Natalya Androsova, who came to the U.S. from Russia 22 years ago, said requiring vaccinations smacks of communism.
"I don’t want my child and myself to be vaccinated against my will," she said.
The coronavirus vaccine isn't mandatory, and there's no effort in North Carolina for so-called "vaccine passports" to document whether someone has been vaccinated in order to board a plane, get inside a business or obtain some other service.
Kris Churchill said his 7-year-old son died in 2012, and he believes routine vaccinations he received as a baby contributed to his health problems.
Pediatricians have said there's no evidence linking childhood vaccines with illnesses or disabilities.
"We are [here] to support the freedom of choice and the freedom of informed consent. We think that’s important to a free society," Churchill said. "When you’re talking about rolling out an experimental product under an emergency use authorization, that’s an assumed risk on the people being sold this product."
Todd Stiefel formed a one-man counter-protest, hiring a plane to fly a banner over the Legislative Building with the message "Want to feel free? Get a vaccine! #ScienceSaves.
Stiefel has a weakened immune system, so he wants everyone to be vaccinated for the safety of people like him, as well as cancer patients and others.
"We need herd immunity. We need everybody to get vaccinated in order to keep all of us safe," he said, adding that he's already been vaccinated.
Businesses should be able to protect their workers and customers by ensuring as many of their staff are vaccinated, Stiefel said. The protesters are simply scared of the unknown and need to learn the facts, he said.
"The vaccine is vastly safer than the virus," he said. "They're scared of the vaccine more so than the virus. It's almost as if being scared of seatbelts rather than car accidents."