ENCINITAS, Calif. — Anti-vaccine activists rallied in a North County community on Wednesday to support a handful of first responders who lost their jobs for failing to follow warrants.

The contentious debate over vaccination mandates implemented to stem the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for city and county officials over the past year. Activists have continually berated local politicians and public health officials, with some officials even enduring racist and hateful rhetoric from one man during a November meeting of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

But on Wednesday, activists said the struggle had been hard on them too.

“There’s a division all over the country and that’s a goal for whoever,” said Patti Strottlemeyer, a nurse who no longer works in a local hospital system and opposes warrants, “but it’s is a goal, for us to be divided. It’s very, very unfortunate.”

Another activist told FOX 5 that she recently pushed back on wearing a mask at the Encinitas Library.

“They wanted me to leave or put on a mask,” said Andy Schulgasser, anti-mask campaigner and vaccination mandate. “I said, ‘Well, you know, call the police and they’ll fix you up.’ And unfortunately, the police came.

Refusing to leave or give in to wearing a face covering, Schulgasser said she was holding her ground.

“They didn’t want to hear anything we had to say and finally they said, ‘That’s it. We welcome you,'” she said. “They said we were arresting you for, I think, They handcuffed me and took me to the sheriff’s office.

In California, a statewide mask mandate was implemented last month, making mask wearing mandatory in all indoor public places in the state, regardless of vaccination status. It was supposed to expire Jan. 15, but state public health officials extended it through February as infections and hospitalizations spiked amid the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant COVID. -19.

More than 2.81 million San Diegans – about 89.4% of eligible people – have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 2.49 million – or 79% – are fully vaccinated. To date, 906,615 San Diegans have received vaccine boosters.

The CDC recommends a Pfizer or Moderna booster five months after the second dose. A Johnson & Johnson booster is recommended two months after the second dose. Pfizer boosters have been approved for everyone 12 years and older.

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters are only available to adults 18 and older.

But as more mandates are rolled out by local governments and private companies, activists say they have struggled with family members who support masks and vaccinations. They said they felt isolated from their family, but the issue was too big for them.

“If you only have two choices to get cured or to get it done, wear a mask and get vaccinated?” said activist Consuelo Henkin. “Come on. You need to wake up.

Click or tap here to see free COVID-19 testing sites in San Diego County. Immunization locations in the county are available here and on the federal government’s immunization website, vaccines.gov.

City News Service contributed to this story.