Protesters fall ill while demanding Biden continue pandemic

Demonstrators Monday laid down on the White House sidewalk and made themselves ill in protest of Joe Biden’s recent remarks declaring COVID-19 over.  

"We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over," Biden said in an interview with 60 Minutes aired Sunday. "If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. . . . I think it's changing,” he added. 

But some were offended by Biden’s statement, saying their disabilities should warrant a new pandemic. The group of protesters, organized by MEaction, boasted they were “disabled” from “Long COVID” and “myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).” 

“We are sick and disabled with ME/CFS and Long COVID but we are here today, putting our bodies on the line, to tell President Biden that the pandemic is not over, that millions of us are being disabled from post-viral disease, and we need urgent action from our government,” demonstrator and MEAction Advocacy Director Ben HsuBorger said in a statement. “We are calling on President Biden to declare ME/CFS and Long COVID a national emergency.” 

Myalgic encephalomyelitis, otherwise known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is a long-term neurological condition. Encephalomyelitis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome are all listed by Pfizer as possible side effects of their COVID-19 injections. 

MEaction proudly reported that the demonstrators, who had mobility issues, “marched” over to block traffic. 

“Protesters, many in wheelchairs or using walking aids, then marched over to 17^th Street to block traffic and call on President Biden to declare Long COVID and ME/CFS a national emergency.” 

The statement also said that the protesters martyred themselves by becoming even more ill for the cause. 

“The protesters – most of them sick with ME/CFS and/or Long COVID – struggled to go on as their symptoms worsened with the exertion of chanting, walking and being in the heat. They will now spend days ‘crashed’ in bed with worsened symptoms attempting to recover from the hours they spent making their voices heard.” 

The group also turned its cause into a racial issue and accused Biden of “pandemic denial”. 

“COVID death and disability continues [sic] to heavily impact Black, Latine [sic], Indigenous and low-income communities. We are not in ‘pretty good shape,’ and we will not forget that President Biden is throwing us away with his denial of the pandemic.” 

America’s Frontline News contacted MEAction to determine if the group also protested COVID-19 vaccine mandates, which disproportionately impacted the Black population, but MEAction did not immediately respond.