A group of anti-vaccine protesters gathered in front of a school in England on Monday and distributed pamphlets showing photos of dead and disfigured children to students, claiming the COVID jab is to blame.
“My 13-year-old daughter called me after she arrived at school saying a woman had tried to force her to take a vile leaflet… apparently it showed a color picture of a young girl covered in blood and the woman told her the vaccine had killed her,” one parent told SWNS, a British news agency, which reported that police are now on the look-out for the anti-vaxers involved.
The incident—which according to parents left children entering the school “in tears”—is the latest in a slew of anti-vaccine protests targeting students as more young people gain access to anti-COVID jabs. And they’re taking place at schools around the world.
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In Canada, several anti-vaccine demonstrations at schools in British Columbia prompted lawmakers to introduce legislation that would see the creation of “bubble zones” to prohibit protesters from gathering within the vicinity of schools and hospitals. Politicians in other provinces including Ontario are pushing to follow suit.
The legislation came after anti-vaccine rioters physically entered a school in Salmon Arm, B.C., triggering a “hold and secure” lockdown on Sept. 17.
“This is just a complete and utter disgrace. The word ‘Covidiot’ doesn't even begin to describe how inappropriate the actions of these wackjobs are. It’s unacceptable in the extreme,” B.C.’s Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said about the incident.
The shocking Monday protest in England was preceded by yet another wave of protests at schools across more than half a dozen cities in England and Scotland, according to iNews. The uptick in demonstrations appears to coincide with the U.K. implementing its rollout of anti-COVID vaccines to all children over 12 years of age, which began in mid-September.
Last month, police responded to a group of anti-vaccination activists who had gathered at a school in Lanarkshire, Scotland, holding yellow signs that told students inside that “vaccines are harming teens,” and another said, “Even killing them.” Last week, a viral video showed a student in Lancashire, England, taking matters into their own hands by snatching an anti-vax sign from a demonstrator who had appeared at the school gates. A teacher in Nottingham also claimed an “unwelcome visitor” entered his school to hand him a fake “cease and desist” letter.
Last week, British government minister Alex Burghart condemned what he called “dreadful anti-vaccination protests” that had been taking place outside schools across the country. “The lies that have been spread by certain groups are outrageous. They have unquestionably made life uncomfortable for some people working in schools at this time,” he said.
