The Los Angeles Fire Department temporarily closed the entrance to the Dodger Stadium vaccination site on Saturday for 55 minutes, Andrea Garcia, spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, told CNN on Monday.
The branch video showed a sign that read, “LA Better Dodge The Vaxxx”; another said “Covid = Scam”.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Officer Drake Madison told CNN that the protesters were “antivaxxers”. The meeting was peaceful and no arrests were made, he said.
Protesters may have caused the gates to be closed by the authorities as a precaution, but they did not prevent people from being vaccinated during that time, Garcia told CNN. No appointments have been canceled.
“The city is reviewing the vaccination site security protocol and will establish a protest zone in the event of future protests,” said Garcia by email.
Dodger Stadium is one of the largest vaccination sites in the country. Garcetti said the site has the capacity to vaccinate 12,000 people a day, he said the night before the site opened.
“Everyone we met there and who had an appointment was attended to,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told CNN on Monday.
The vaccination process was emotional, he said.
“It is not only a physical price, but also an emotional one,” said Humphrey. “It is a very moving time for many of these people who are being vaccinated. Maybe they have lost their parents or something, you know, and they are crying and we are giving an injection. We do this thousands of times each day.”
The vaccine program is a joint effort between the mayor’s office and the fire department, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz said on Saturday. Vaccine consultations run from 8 am to 8 pm and more consultations will be offered “as soon as we receive another vaccination quota,” he said.
CNN’s Claudia Dominguez and Braden Walker contributed to this report.