Opinion: The "Freedom Rally" protest against vaccine mandates was ill-informed – The Reveille, LSU’s student newspaper

A Turning Point supporter holds a sign in protest of vaccine mandates Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 during the LSU chapter Turning Point Freedom Rally on the Parade Ground at LSUs campus.

On Friday, Oct. 22, protestors took to campus to speak out against the universitys vaccine mandate.

The Freedom Rally was organized by Turning Point USA, a non-profit right-wing organization that promotes conservative values at high schools and colleges. Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point, has continuously made misleading claims regarding COVID-19; he has claimed hydroxychloroquine is a 100% effective"cure against the virus and comparedvaccine mandates in schools to medical apartheid on Fox News.

Recently, Kirk has focused on advocating against school-wide vaccine mandates.

October 21 and 22 were supposed to be fall break, but after Hurricane Ida these days became virtual make-up days. Still, campus was emptier than usual, making it the perfect time for Turning Point to promote their political agenda. It was a fitting decision of Turning Point to hold a protest on a college campus on a day where virtually no one was there to oppose them.

American flags, religious phrases and home of the brave signs made appearances. Many Twitter users also pointed out that in a video of the protest, a protestor wearing a cape of the Louisiana state flag was seen throwing up the white power hand symbol.

There were signs reading My Body My Choice," suggesting that vaccine mandates are a violation of bodily autonomy and that businesses, workplaces and educational institutions should not mandate that people are vaccinated against COVID-19.

Yet vaccine mandates have existed at the university long before the COVID-19 pandemic. The university's current vaccination requirements include a tetanus shot within the last decade, a meningitis shot since the age of 16 years or older and two doses of MMR shots.

When considering whether COVID-19 vaccine mandates are violations of personal freedom, like Turning Point claims, I think of the classic quote, my right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins. The exact origins of this quote are uncertain, but versions of it have existed in American literature since the 19thcentury.

The data from medical professionals and the scientific community is clearCOVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in reducing the risk of COVID-19 and its associated symptoms. In other words, your decision to get vaccinated will directly affect how many humans live or die from COVID-19.

Skipping out on a COVID-19 vaccine when you are eligible to receive one is as close to being about personal freedom as drunk driving. A university mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccines is in the interest of public health, just like the laws that make drunk driving illegal.

The protest against the universitys vaccine mandate, which thankfully hardly anyone attended, was ill-informed. For the few who participated in the protest, I can only hope they are comfortable trusting their health with the political profiteers of Turning Point rather than scientists and epidemiologists.

Kathryn Craddock is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Patterson.

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Opinion: The "Freedom Rally" protest against vaccine mandates was ill-informed - The Reveille, LSU's student newspaper