Thousands protest vaccine mandates at Mississippi rallies

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Thousands recently rallied against COVID-19 vaccine mandates at protests held on Mississippi’s coast and in its capital. The Sun Herald reports that upwards of 1,500 workers and their family members waved homemade signs and flags along U.S. 90 near the entrance to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula on Friday. Some employees traveled north the next day to protest the vaccine requirement in Jackson alongside hundreds of other Mississippians. About 1,400 people attended a rally hosted by the Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights a few blocks away, across the street from the Capitol. President Joe Biden ordered sweeping new federal vaccine requirements in September for as many as 100 million American workers.