Stennis Space Center workers will protest federal vaccine mandate at Coast prayer rally
A number of Stennis Space Center workers against federal vaccine requirements will hold a prayer rally Tuesday in Hancock County as the deadline for mandatory COVID vaccination nears.
Employees who work at the John C. Stennis Space Center are expected to protest for “medical freedom” from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the intersection of Mississippi 607 and Texas Flat Road.
The Hancock County NASA national rocket engine test site is the second largest federal employer to have its workforce organize a protest against the vaccination mandate, following Ingalls Shipbuilding employees’ rallies earlier in October. Orders from President Joe Biden’s administration require all federal contractor employees be vaccinated by Dec. 8, 2021.
“Join us for our first Prayer Rally as we UNITE and PRAY for medical Freedom!” a Facebook post with the rally flyer is captioned. “All Stennis employees, family & friends are encouraged to unite & stand together! Open to the public. Signs & flags are welcome.”
Nyla Trumbach, an engineer at Stennis, helped plan the rally and said she expects over 100 Stennis employees and families to join.
“Our views range from, some have religious reasons for not getting vaccinated. Some have medical reasons. And some that’s just their sincerely held belief for whatever reason, moral or ethical, that they should not take this vaccine,” she told the Sun Herald.
In a Facebook group called Stennis Strong — liked by 45 users with its first post shared on Friday — the movement of Stennis employees for medical freedom joins a rapidly growing number of the Mississippi Gulf Coast workforce actively campaigning against vaccine mandates.
The Facebook group where the Ingalls rally of over 1,000 in early October took off now has swelled to over 12,000 members. It had about 7,000 members when Ingalls employees protested the mandates near the entrance of Ingalls Shipbuilding.
Stennis employees have a private group for planning and communication with about 600 members, Trumbach said, with about 50 to 75 employees joining in-person planning meetings.
There is also mounting support for Mississippi Coast workforce against vaccine mandates to submit religious exemption forms as a way out of the coronavirus vaccine.
During an event against vaccine mandates event in Pascagoula on Oct. 14, State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville told over 400 attendees to use religious exemptions as a way to push back against vaccine mandates.
“The religious aspect of this is going to be a very powerful instrument for you… a deeply held religious belief is protected in our laws,” he said. “My body is my temple. My immune system is part of my temple. I have faith in God to be a healer. I don’t want to put my faith in men.”
Under Mississippi law, however, exemption from required vaccinations for religious, philosophical, or conscientious reasons is not allowed.
Upon request from the Sun Herald last week, a Stennis spokesperson said they could not comment on the number of religious exemptions from the vaccine that have been filed at their center but said they are “continuing preparations to adhere, as required, to the president’s executive order on COVID-19.”
This article and live event is supported by the Journalism and Public Information Fund, a fund of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
