Protests against mandated COVID-19 vaccines pop up across US

Pushback is happening over vaccine requirements and mask mandates.

ByEmily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Erin Schumaker, and Marlene Lenthang
Last Updated: August 8, 2021, 11:56 PM EDT

The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 615,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 58.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC last week, citing new science on the transmissibility of the delta variant, changed its mask guidance to now recommend everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission -- vaccinated or not -- wear a face covering in public, indoor settings.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Aug 08, 2021, 2:44 PM EDT

WHO warns of phony COVID lottery scam

The World Health Organization issued a warning Sunday about online scams involving a phony COVID-19 lottery.

The scammers claim to be a financial management firm in London under the name "Capital Finance, Inc. London," WHO said.

The fraudsters allege through emails that the "COVID-19 Lottery Compensation Prize" is brought to you by WHO, in association with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), according to WHO. 

The emails also state that they come from a group appointed by the WHO to process payment of these prizes, and then solicit personal details and in some cases, money from their victims, WHO warned.

"WHO is not offering or conducting a lottery prize to compensate individuals, whose names or contact details are purportedly selected at random, for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the UN agency said in a statement.

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik

Aug 08, 2021, 1:56 PM EDT

Vaccine mandates would make a difference: NIH director

National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said Sunday he believes vaccine requirements could make a difference in slowing the rapid spread of COVID-19 and acknowledged how politics has polarized public opinion on pandemic mitigation strategies.

"Why is it that a mandate about a vaccine or wearing a mask suddenly becomes a statement of your political party? We never should have let that happen." Collins told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.

Read the full story here.

Aug 08, 2021, 1:52 PM EDT

Protests against mandated COVID-19 vaccines pop up across US

As the COVID-19 delta variant causes a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the U.S., protests against mandatory COVID vaccines have cropped up around the country.

Dozens of people gathered outside St. John's Hospital in Maplewood, Minnesota on Saturday to protest vaccination mandates from health care systems including M Health Fairview, Allina Health, HealthPartners and Children's Minnesota,
ABC affiliate KSTP reported.

The only exemptions are for strong religious beliefs or medical conditions. "We stand up for our patients all the time and no one's standing up for us," Allison Todd, a nurse at Allina Health's Cambridge clinic told the station.

PHOTO: A sign is seen at a protest against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates being implemented by various hospitals, universities and business across the state of Michigan at the State Capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, Aug. 6, 2021.
A sign is seen as people protest against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates being implemented by various hospitals, universities and business across the state of Michigan as the Delta variant surges across the state, at the Michigan State Capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, Aug. 6, 2021.
Seth Herald/Reuters

Hundreds protested outside of ChristianaCare in Newark, Delaware, Saturday to push back against the hospital's decision to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for all employees, according to WPVI.

And more than 100 gathered in Vancouver, Washington, to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates for hospital workers, ABC's Portland affiliate, KATU reported.

Aug 08, 2021, 10:04 AM EDT

Florida's largest school districts impose mask mandates -- with a catch

This weekend, some of Florida's largest school districts have moved to require masks for students, the latest in a weeklong saga that began when Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order aimed at preventing districts from mandating face coverings for kids.

However, the mandates -- issued by districts including Hillsborough (Tampa), Orange (Orlando), and Palm Beach -- come with a catch: parents are allowed to opt their children out of them, without providing a reason.

Read the full story here.

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