Nearly 50 people in Kailua-Kona joined the World Wide Freedom Rally held Saturday to “make a stand for free speech, freedom to assemble, freedom of movement, freedom of choice, and health freedom.”
The Big Island residents who lined Queen Kaahumanu Highway joined others from Maui, Kauai, Oahu and 42 countries around the world, according to participant Michelle Melendez.
All of the participants were among the hundreds who have signed a petition seeking a town hall meeting with Gov. David Ige regarding COVID-19, regular flu and the ending of COVID-related mandates. They state other ailments, like regular flu, heart disease and cancer, have killed more people than the coronavirus has in the past 14 months and that the long-term effects of the vaccine are unknown.
“Now they want to vaccinate our keiki who are the least susceptible to the virus. Even the CDC says you cannot mandate this vaccine because it’s only for emergency use and hasn’t been fully approved. People must take a stand for their rights and our keiki’s future,” Melendez said in a press release.