PORTAGE, MI – A small group of protesters stood outside the Pfizer building in Portage while President Joseph Biden toured the facility where the COVID-19 vaccine is manufactured.
The group of ten played music, rang goats and held signs criticizing President and Government Gretchen Whitmer, who along with the President had the tour through the vaccine production plant.
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John Clore drives off from Lansing and puts on his COVID Man superhero uniform, made of a plastic-wrapped laundry cloth, a Hazmat suit and the flag of the former Soviet Union as a cape.
The group consists of individuals who met during the closing time and held the “stop the steal” marches throughout the year. The protest group shrank after the January uprising at the U.S. Capitol, said Grand Rapids resident Steven Lee.
Lee was among those who drove to Washington DC to stop stealing performances and marched to the Capitol. Lee said he did not enter the Capitol building, but the reaction to the uprising affected his close circle of friends. According to him, videos posted by him and his girlfriend on social media received visits from the federal government.
“Since then, there has been a massive outage,” Lee said of the local group of protesters stealing theft.
He describes himself as a longtime “truther” who was skeptical about mandatory vaccinations before the pandemic. While Lee has said he is not against the vaccine, or those who want to take it, he fears the government and the corporate relationship to introduce the COVID-19 vaccine will infringe on his choices.
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He said he was concerned that the COVID-19 vaccine might become a requirement for work or group gatherings such as concerts.
If Lee was able to talk to Biden one-on-one, his message would be simple: “Let’s rest.”
State Representative Steve Carra, R-St. Joseph, joined the group to express his skepticism about how quickly the vaccine was manufactured. He said the government was financially financing its production and distribution.
“Just like a loaf of bread, if you want to buy a loaf of bread out of your pocket,” Carra said. ‘If you want to get the vaccine. Go ahead, go buy it. It’s your choice. ”
To accelerate vaccine production, the Trump administration has initiated $ 18 billion in Project Warp Speed. Pfizer distanced itself from the project and did not accept advance funding for the research section of Project Warp Speed.
The company has entered into agreements with the federal government to sell the vaccine. The Trump administration has ordered a total of 200 million doses of Pfizer. The second half was contracted to arrive in June. Biden announced that Pfizer had agreed to speed up the process a month earlier for the delivery of these doses in May.
Contracts for another 100 million Pfizer vaccines were also finalized last week. According to Biden, the country is now on track to have enough stock for 300 million doses by the end of July.
Carra also questions the unprecedented speed with which the vaccine was made.
The COVID-19 vaccine was manufactured, approved and distributed within nine months. Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine production surpassed the bovine vaccine, which was developed within four years and distributed to the public in 1977.
Jon Rocha, a member of the Facebook group Michigan Needs an Adjustment, which has amassed an adherence of nearly 55,000, said the discussion surrounding the vaccine does not have to be political.
“I think you can be excited about the ingenuity and values of hard work and getting things done quickly,” he said. “But you still have to be skeptical about it, say well, why did it come so fast.”
The pharmaceutical companies give credit to mRNA technology for the fast pace. The German company BioNTech has taken the lead and has already tested mRNA vaccines on influenza, Zika and rabies viruses.
Project Warp Speed has also been enabled for faster approval. The Food and Drug Administration has set the threshold for the use of COVID-19 vaccines 50% effective.
The Pfizer BioNTech product achieved 95% effectiveness and was approved by the FDA for emergency authorization on December 11th.
A group of Burmese lawyers also protested in Portage on Friday to end the coup in Myanmar.
On February 1, the army took control of the government of the Southeast Asian country after a general election in which Aung San Suu Kyi won the National League for Democracy Party.
The group met opposite the Kalamazoo / Battle Creek International Airport, where Air Force One landed and departed during the presidential visit.
When Biden’s caravan re-entered the airport through the gate along Portage Road, protesters collectively asked the president to ask for his help. Shortly afterwards, the president boarded Air Force One and left Kalamazoo at about 4:20 p.m.
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