Covid vaccination: Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium 'closed by protests'

The stadium is one of the biggest vaccination centres in the country

A Covid-19 vaccination centre at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles was forced to close for an hour on Saturday after protests by anti-vaccine and far-right groups, local media report.

Around 50 protesters stalled motorists who had been waiting for hours.

The demonstrators carried placards decrying the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Protesters told people to "turn back", while one man shouted: "You're a lab rat", the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Los Angeles Fire Department closed the entrance to the stadium around 14:00 local time (22:00 GMT) as a precaution.

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The Los Angeles Police Department tweeted that it "did NOT close the gates" to the stadium and all scheduled vaccines would be delivered.

California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that that stadium was "back up and running".

"This is completely wrong," German Jaquez, who had been waiting for a jab, told the Times.

"I've been waiting for weeks to get an appointment. I am a dentist; I am taking a big risk being around patients. I want to be safe for my patients and for my family. The vaccine is the only way to beat the virus."

A post on social media called the protest the "Scamdemic Protest/March".

"This is a sharing information protest and march against everything COVID, Vaccine, PCR Tests, Lockdowns, Masks, Fauci, Gates, Newsom, China, digital tracking, etc." it said.

Protesters carried placards with slogans including: "Save Your Soul Turn Back Now", "CNN is lying to you", and "Take off your mask".

The stadium was eventually reopened around an hour later.

California has been one of the worst-hit states in the US, with around 3.2 million cases and more than 40,000 deaths.

More than 439,000 people have lost their lives to the virus in the country.

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