A crowd of around 50 or so people, including many parents and children, gathered in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse Monday morning to signal their opposition to vaccine mandates.

With the Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” blasting through a Bluetooth speaker, the crowd collected approving honks from passing motorists and waved signs sporting slogans such as, “Too Soon — My Child, My Choice,” “You Can’t Comply Your Way Back to Freedom,” and “Nothing Warrants the Removal of Medical Choice.”

The demonstration comes on a day when thousands of parents statewide are opting to keep their children home from school in response to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement that the state would mandate vaccination for students who fall in the FDA’s approved grade spans. California is the first state in the nation to enact such a requirement.