President Joe Biden's administration, as well as state leaders across the nation, are imploring the public to take the vaccines proven to be safe and effective against the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans.
Astonishingly, right-wing lawmakers and media personalities are actively working against that effort, promoting baseless conspiracy theories and disinformation to millions of conservatives, designed to dissuade them from potentially saving their own lives.
According to the Tennessean, which reviewed internal documents, that disinformation has taken root in Tennessee, where the state's Department of Health has halted all youth vaccine outreach programs for every disease—a response to pressure from GOP state lawmakers. The development comes as cases are tripling in the Volunteer State.
The Department also won't send out reminders for half-vaccinated teens to receive their second dose.
The Tennessean also reports that Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the state's top vaccination official, after she faced harsh criticism from state Republicans for her outreach program, including a legal pathway for vaccinating teenagers above the age of 14 without parental consent.
Fiscus blamed this criticism as the impetus for her removal:
"It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19. I have now been terminated for doing exactly that."
It was the latest instance of the right's continued bulwark against the national effort to obliterate a pandemic that's upended daily life in the United States for over a year.
People were horrified to see it.
I am old enough to remember when childhood diseases - now controlled by vaccines - terrorized families, wreaking pain and heartbreak. This is lunacy.https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/13/tennessee-halts-all-vaccine-outreach-minors-not-just-covid-19/7928701002/\u00a0\u2026— Dan Rather (@Dan Rather) 1626211261
They sacrificed their children to the idols. - Psalm 106https://twitter.com/BrettKelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis (she/her) (@Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis (she/her)) 1626211132
I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m pro-vaccines and anti-COVID, anti-flu, anti-HPV ... well, really anti-diseases killing people.\n\nHow on earth is that partisan opinion now?https://twitter.com/BrettKelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— Adam Schiff (@Adam Schiff) 1626278002
If you needed further proof (and I don\u2019t know why) that Ronna & the GOP don\u2019t give a damn about you & your family\u2026. Here ya go! Maybe Marsha should focus on this instead of @taylorswift13 #disgustinghttps://twitter.com/BrettKelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair (@Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair) 1626268617
We are in dangerous times. This is not a healthy society.https://twitter.com/brettkelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— Ida Bae Wells (@Ida Bae Wells) 1626210087
I don't even know where to begin with how monstrous this is.https://twitter.com/BrettKelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— Winn Periyasamy (\u0b85\u0b9a\u0bc1\u0bb5\u0bbf\u0ba9\u0bbf, she/they) \ud83e\uddbe\ud83e\uddf8 (@Winn Periyasamy (\u0b85\u0b9a\u0bc1\u0bb5\u0bbf\u0ba9\u0bbf, she/they) \ud83e\uddbe\ud83e\uddf8) 1626232825
They're warning that the decision will have devastating impacts.
When this leads to an uptick in preventable infectious disease, people who have means will leave TN. Those who are historically marginalized will remain. \nWe are literally witnessing how systemic policies result in unequal drivers of health outcomes. #shamefulhttps://twitter.com/BrettKelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— Stella Safo, MD MPH (@Stella Safo, MD MPH) 1626278706
Halting vaccine outreach - including not reminding teens to return for their second #covid19 shot - is horrifying and I worry will have tragic consequences for kids, families and public health in Tennessee and beyond. There is no reasonable or moral defense of the below:https://twitter.com/BrettKelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— Chelsea Clinton (@Chelsea Clinton) 1626207481
The end result of this is to hurt and kill poor people. It\u2019s economic warfare of the most evil sort. When I say the @GOP should be burnt to the ground, look no further.https://twitter.com/BrettKelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— stuart stevens (@stuart stevens) 1626289712
Hard to overstate the long-term public health consequences of one of the two major parties turning anti-vaxx out of partisan spite.https://twitter.com/BrettKelman/status/1415023788777934850\u00a0\u2026— Matt Ford (@Matt Ford) 1626211919
Tennessee ranks 44th in the nation for vaccination rates.
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