18 months into pandemic, some in Raleigh still 'taking stand' against COVID mandates

Many at the rally said they’d prefer the freedom of choice instead of forced mandates by employers and schools. Those who marched expressed that they felt like the government is taking away their right to choose.

"No mandate! No masks!" was one of the chants heard throughout downtown Raleigh.

And some of the signs demonstrators carried showed their disapproval of vaccine and mask mandates.

"Something’s got to be done," said Debbie, a protestor. "We have to take a stand sometime."

Demonstrators expressed a number of concerns, displaying signs with messages like #FreedomOverForce and #StoptheMandate.

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Some said the COVID vaccine was rushed too quickly.

"Government control," said Gina Carucci. "If you look back at the other viruses and diseases, how many years did it take for those vaccines to come out? 10, 15 years. This one was just pushed out."

Dr. David Wohl, an infectious disease specialist at UNC, said it’s about using the current tools we have to put an end to this pandemic.

"We’re not talking about an experiment," Whol said. "There’s no human subjects going on. There’s no consent form to collect data on you. There’s no placebo. These are all real vaccines and they really work, just like the Hepatitis B vaccine, just like the chicken pox shot, just like all the shots we take. This is now in our portfolio, now in our toolbox to use for events to prevent bad infections."

North Carolina Coronavirus dashboard - Maps, charts and data

On Friday afternoon, the FDA advisory panel recommended that people 65 and older, or people who are at high risk, get a coronavirus booster shot. That decision came about an hour after the panel rejected a plan to support Pfizer booster shots for the general public and healthy Americans.