Long walk to say no to vaccines

“NO VACCINES, shove the poison!” chanted a crowd of about 200 people outside Meadowdale Mall in Edenvale, east of Johannesburg, on a partly cloudy morning yesterday as they marched against what they called “medical apartheid”, which they said was caused by government.

The protest was an initiative of the World Wide Rally for Freedom, an international movement that is dedicated to fight against Covid-19 related restrictions and vaccination in its member countries. The organisation said the protest was a call for freedom of speech, choice, assembly and health.

The Covid-19 vaccine rejectionists walked on the sidewalks of Van Riebeek Avenue, waving their placards to allow those who cared to read the opportunity of doing so. Children as young as seven were among those whose placards read “No vaccine will enter my body”.

Members of the organisation said they were tired of being oppressed by the state and they should not be forced to take the vaccine.

While they walked up the road, motorist hooted to show their solidarity.

“We are united together as the people in our diversity and we are saying enough is enough. This lockdown has been completely illegal. There are alternative treatments (for Covid-19) but they sold us fear instead of telling us about sunshine and natural immunity,” said Daryl Hardy, a member of Hope 4 Humanity, that was coordinating the event.

According to Hardy, the purpose of the 4km long march was to demonstrate to and inform the public of the tyranny and the fear that was being instilled by the government to force people to vaccinate.

“We want to reveal the truth (about the vaccines). There have been illegal experiments in Tembisa where they have injected children and now these children have adverse effects and their parents were not consulted. It’s completely illegal to inject people with stuff that they don’t know what it contains. This vaccine was not properly tested,” Hardy said.

Among the crowd was 36-year-old Nothando Gumede, who wore a white shirt that read “My body, my choice” with a syringe over the words that said she did not associate with the term “anti-vaxxer”, as it was created to force people to vaccinate from fear of being excluded from society.

”What I am is someone who stands for freedom of choice, so I must have a choice to either have (the vaccine) or not have it. But you then can’t go into a space where you start forcing, or you start infringing on my freedom. My freedom is not granted by government, I have rights as a person. I have a right to decline something,” she said.

Meanwhile, 40-year-old Kerry Parsons, whose placard read “Corrupt fat cats love obedient sheep”, said the government would not admit that the ongoing vaccination programme was nothing but an experimental trial and that they were financially benefiting from the so-called experiment.

“(Clause) 5.5.5 of Pfizer’s contract with the South African government says this is an experimental vaccine and it has not undergone long-term trials. Therefore, this means that whoever is taking the vaccines is agreeing to be part of an experiment and the manufacturer is not liable for the side-effects or death caused by it. I’m not anti-vaccine but anti-experimental vaccine being forced on me and my children, that is just wrong. How can you put a drug that is not tested in a child?”

While marching peacefully, the protesters neither wore masks nor observed any other Covid-19 protocols. Gumede said she only wore a mask in public places such as supermarkets because they said it was mandatory and one cannot gain entry without it.

Raam Naicker, one of the coordinators, said he saw no need to wear a mask despite believing that the virus did indeed exist.

He said he had had Covid-19 but he was asymptotic and therefore could not transmit the virus.

“I have had it (Covid-19) and I recovered. I don’t think it is as bad as they say it is, it is just like a common flu. Also, you can’t say that people who are healthy must mask up, it’s madness.”

The protest in Edenvale was one of five protests that took place across the country yesterday. Gauteng had two protests, while three of them took place in George, Durban and Cape Town.