COVID vaccine site shut down for California horse racing protest, 200 appointments canceled
The neighs have it.
A COVID vaccination site at a Northern California racetrack was closed for multiple hours Thursday afternoon during a protest against horse racing.
Around 200 vaccine appointments were canceled at Golden Gate Fields, about 10 miles northeast of downtown San Francisco, local news station KRON reported. The site reopened in the late afternoon.
Demonstrators with Direct Action Everywhere, an animal rights group, laid down on the horse racing track while others rallied outside, according to a press release from the group. The protesters want the track to be shut down because more than 30 horses have died at the facility since the beginning of 2020.
“Golden Gate Fields is a firm believer in the right to protest,” said a tweet posted to the track’s account. “We respectfully suggest to the activists that there is a better way to have this conversation and air their concerns.”
Protesters said police shut down the vaccine site prior to the their arrival, anticipating a large number of demonstrators.
Direct Action Everywhere members said they fully supported the clinic’s reopening.
“There’s no reason this peaceful demonstration should cause vaccinations to stop,” member Matt Johnson said in a tweet. “It’s a desperate attempt to deflect blame and attention from the horror show that GGF is for horses and humans.”
Two horse races scheduled for Thursday have been postponed and are set for cancellation.
More than 6.7 million Californians, over 17% of the state’s population, have received at least one COVID vaccine shot, according to Centers for Disease Control data.
