Tennessee’s elected officials should stop hindering the fight against COVID-19 | Opinion

• Heidi Campbell, D-Oak Hill, represents District 20 in the Tennessee Senate.

In June, several lawmakers excoriated Dr. Lisa Piercey, Tennessee’s commissioner of health, during a government oversight meeting. Her purported crime? Encouraging newly eligible Tennesseans to get vaccinated from COVID-19.

And today we learned that Tennessee’s top vaccine official, Michelle Fiscus, was actually fired for simply doing her job well.”

In a statement Monday, Dr. Fiscus shared her concerns for the future of our state: “ … 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.” 

Before unpacking the grievances expressed by committee legislators, let’s start with some facts:

The CDC-approved Covid-19 vaccines are a safe and reliable way to prevent infection or reduce the severity of an infection. In fact, 99% of those dying from Covid right now are unvaccinated. After the deaths of more than 12,500 Tennesseans due to the coronavirus, every person who can should sign up for a vaccine.  

Unfortunately, these statistics and results are not allaying the fears held by many of my colleagues. Last month, they expressed outrage to the commissioner that tweens and teenagers — unaccompanied by parents — were getting a shot.

However, after learning this was the case for only eight teens statewide, three of whom were the commissioner’s own children, they changed tactics and demanded that our health department cease encouraging adolescents to get vaccinated through social media ad campaigns.

More:Are we ready to go maskless on planes? Marsha Blackburn says yes, but I disagree. | Plazas

Lawmakers politicized COVID-19 protocols and coverage

Despite the fact the ads were obviously targeted towards parents, committee members remained resolute in their belief that the health department was “hiding in dark alleys and whispering to kids, “Hey, come get vaccinated,” as Piercey deftly characterized it.

From the beginning, too many state leaders chose to undermine confidence in science, rather than fight against the pandemic. At first, they actively resisted testing, and claimed that COVID was no worse than the common flu.

Then they opposed and politicized mitigation policies like social distancing and mask wearing, claiming these efforts infringed on “personal liberty,” even though infectious disease experts made clear repeatedly that the only way to defeat the virus is for all of us to collectively recognize our own responsibility in stopping the spread.

While frontline healthcare workers scrambled to keep up with skyrocketing hospitalizations last year, the General Assembly passed a resolution accusing the media of sensationalizing Covid19 as part of a “political agenda.”

In spite of the fact one of their own caucus members became seriously ill from the virus, many legislators made a point of refusing to wear masks or practice social distancing.  

Hear more Tennessee Voices:Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.

Now, as life-saving vaccines are available widely, elected leaders in our state are calling the Department of Health’s efforts to encourage vaccinations “reprehensible” and recommending the entire department be dissolved as punishment.

More:COVID-19 and the brain: brain disorder delirium should be taken seriously | Opinion

‘Disinformation is literally killing us’

No doubt, some of this behavior is brought on by dangerous conspiracy theories about the CDC-approved vaccines. This deception not only increases vaccine hesitancy, but it can also lead to vigilantism. In May, a woman barreled through a pop-up vaccination tent in Maryville, Tennessee while shouting “no vaccine.”

Her reckless actions endangered health department staffers, members of the National Guard and her own neighbors.

Disinformation is literally killing us. It’s lucrative for networks that turn a profit by disseminating click bait, but our “greatest generation” who lived through polio and measles outbreaks must surely be appalled by both our selfishness and our reluctance to embrace a life-saving medical discovery.  

The prescient dystopian fiction of the mid-20th century warned of the fact-averse reality where we now find ourselves.

Now, Tennessee’s  21st century version of Big Brother forbids discussions of racism, sexism or LGBQT issues in our schools, warns that safe vaccines are dangerous, and condones accusations that our health department is engaged in performing medical experiments on children.

Tennessee is one of eight southern states fueling the spread of the more contagious Delta variant and putting our nation at risk, especially the most vulnerable in our communities. Unsurprisingly, these spikes are happening in areas with low vaccination rates.  

As elected leaders, we owe it to our heroic healthcare professionals, the families of those who lost loved ones to COVID, and frankly every Tennessean, to ignore conspiracy theories, move beyond partisanship, and follow the science.  All of our lives depend on it.

Heidi Campbell, D-Oak Hill, represents District 20 in the Tennessee Senate.

*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Tennessean can be found here ***