Mark Slapinski
A few dozen protesters gathered outside the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto to protest a mass vaccination drive Sunday. The protest was met with a large police presence.
The city of Toronto hosted a large vaccine clinic for children aged 5 to 11 years old at the Scotiabank Arena. Protesters showed up to convince parents not to vaccinate their kids. The protesters had placards, megaphones, and a speaker system. Anti-vaccine messaging was blasted through speakers on Bremner and York, in South Toronto, as children and their families went to get vaccinated. The event was peaceful, and nobody ended up getting hurt.
Protesters were heard repeating popular conspiracy theories, including familiar names such as Bill Gates and George Soros. Other protesters took shots at the pharmaceutical companies. One of the speakers, Vlad Sobolev, referred to Pfizer as a “criminal entity.” When asked, another protester named John indicated he had a deep distrust for the media and the government. He also referred to vaccines as “satanic” and compared buses moving children to the clinic to cattle cars bringing Jews to death camps. Several people flipped off the protesters, with one person asking “where’s your clown nose?”
The city of Toronto claims they were able to vaccinate 1536 “superheroes” Sunday or close to one per cent of the entire eligible population of 5 – 11 year-olds in a single clinic. Joe Cressy, City Councillor for Spadina-Fort York claimed in a tweet that “in partnership with the TTC and [the] City’s community agencies and ambassadors, kids from more than 30 priority neighbourhoods got their shots at the home of the Leafs and Raptors.”
Health Canada has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine made for children 5 to 11 years old, and it is considered safe and effective.
