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Opinion: Awful anti-vaxxers called heroic New West health-care workers ‘disgusting’

Health-care workers deserve better
vaccine disgusting anvil
A protest was held Thursday against COVID-19 vaccine mandates at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster.

Just when I thought anti-vaxxers couldn’t sink any lower, they go ahead and plumb the depths of humanity.

A group of these folks who are protested COVID-19 vaccine mandates stood outside of the Anvil Centre on Thursday and yelled at heroic health-care workers and people who were getting their jabs.

“Ongoing protests here in New Westminster,” tweeted Dr. Kathleen Ross, who was working at the clinic. “Called our staff ‘disgusting.’ Please go home and let the clinic get on with protecting those who want to be protected.”

Yep, they called health-care workers “disgusting” as they waved B.C. and Canadian flags, plus signs about “freedom.”

I still don’t get how harassing health-care workers achieves any kind of objective. It doesn’t even make any sense. Health-care workers don’t set or enforce vaccine mandates. And yet we’ve continually seen these “protesters” camp outside of clinics and hospitals to yell at health-care workers.

There’s another big protest set for Saturday in Metro Vancouver, with people driving from Langley into Vancouver, making sure to pass by at least three hospitals along the way.

“Is this not under the protections we were told would be there to prevent disruptions to healthcare facilities?” tweeted Burnaby physician Dr. Birinder Narang.

“If they believed in freedom, they wouldn't be trying to prevent other people from making the choice to get vaccinated,” tweeted someone else.

All good questions.

Health-care workers are under a tremendous strain after two long years of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’ve gone from the 7 p.m. cheer to people yelling at them as they arrive to do their jobs, risking their own personal health in the process.

They deserve better than this. They deserve to know they are loved and supported and so I am writing this here and now.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.