THOUSANDS gathered in Foreshore Park on Sunday to call for government action on COVID vaccine mandates.
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"People are not only having their jobs taken away but also their careers," United Australia Party MP Craig Kelly, who spoke at the rally on Sunday, told the Newcastle Herald.
"These are people who, for whatever reason, have decided they don't want to participate in a global medical experiment, which in a democratic society should be their choice."
A police spokesperson at the rally estimated there to be between 6000 and 7000 people in attendance, around double the turnout of Reclaim the Line's last rally in Newcastle.
"The crowd has been 100 per cent compliant so far. We are happy for anyone to exercise free speech as long as they work with police as the organisers have done," the spokesperson said.
Organisers of the rally, which was one of many held by Reclaim the Line across Australia on Sunday, say people are concerned about the "adverse effects" of COVID-19 vaccines and the government "mandate" to get vaccinated.
"Where there is risk there must be choice," one of the event organisers Karen Burge said
"We are very concerned about our own well being, our children's well being and even their children's well being, in what is essentially still a trial."
Reclaim the Line said the rally was attended by teachers, nurses and doctors among other professions who lost their jobs due to double vaccination requirements. The rally came as Hunter New England Health confirmed the district's first Omicron variant, with two of the region's 178 other COVID cases receiving care in hospital ICU.
In response to Mr Kelly's claim on the day that viral loads for COVID-19 are the same whether an individual is vaccinated or unvaccinated, NSW Health urged people to "use trusted and credible sources of information".
"People should access COVID-19 health advice and information from official channels including NSW Health and NSW government," a NSW Health spokesperson said.
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