In an effort to protest Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's (D-NM) mandate that requires all New Mexico health care workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a crowd of hundreds gathered at Civic Plaza in Albuquerque on Aug. 25.
Melanie Rubin, of New Mexico Freedom Alliance, said the purpose of the protest wasn't to debate whether or not people should get vaccinated, KOB 4 reported.
"Our healthcare workers, vaccinated and unvaccinated, are coming together to advocate for bodily sovereignty and medical choice," Rubin told KOB 4. "I'm not a doctor, I'm not a virologist, I'm not an immunologist. What we know is that these vaccines are requiring informed consent."
According to KOB 4, Grisham issued the order requiring health care workers be vaccinated on Aug. 18.
Protesters argued that it's not the government's, nor the governor's, place to make medical choices for individuals, KOB 4 reported.
Nora Meyers Sackette, the governor's press secretary, sent KOB 4 a statement in response to the protest. In the statement Sackette said, "Vaccines are required in certain high-risk settings, right now, because anything less is irresponsible." She went on to state that health care workers who chose to opt out of the vaccine can request either a medical or religious exemption.