Tag: vaccine

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

State Settles Name-Clearing Suit With Former Vaccine Chief for $150K

The State of Tennessee spent $11 million on messaging before firing Dr. Michelle Fiscus for spreading the message approved by Gov. Lee’s office. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee’s ex-vaccine chief settled with the state for $150,000 in her name-clearing lawsuit.

Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the former medical director of the state’s Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program, filed the suit shortly after her firing in July 2021, which came as state health officials rolled out a campaign to get more people vaccinated against the coronavirus.

She claimed health department officials unfairly disparaged her by releasing her personnel file and a termination memo that falsely claimed she committed improper behavior in her state position.

Fiscus initially sought a name-clearing hearing, but instead took a settlement. 

Judge: former Tennessee vaccine chief suit must go to trial

Tennessee Lookout

State health department officials dismissed Fiscus after she circulated a memo to health care providers saying they were allowed to give vaccines to adolescents without their parent’s permission, referred to as the “mature minor doctrine.”

The memo was published during the state’s rollout of a campaign to get more people vaccinated for COVID-19. The campaign was supposed to include outreach to teenagers, but state Republican lawmakers complained and raised concerns about Fiscus’ memo.

The state stopped promoting vaccinations after Fiscus’ firing.

In a termination memo released to the public, officials indicted they fired Fiscus because she had improperly directed state funding to a nonprofit she created and circulated the mature minor document without permission from her bosses.

But the nonprofit was similar to those already operating in other states and did not include Fiscus on its board or payroll. Fiscus’ bosses previously praised her for taking the initiative to create it, according to court filings. Court filings also showed that a health department lawyer in senior leadership helped Fiscus create the mature minor memo.

After her firing, Fiscus and her family were subject to a slew of angry social media posts, emails and death threats. She has since moved from Tennessee.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

Categories
News Blog News Feature

TN AG Sues Feds Over Vaccine Mandate

The state of Tennessee sued the federal government Thursday, claiming vaccine requirements for federal contractors is “unlawful and unconstitutional.”

The U.S. Department of Labor released its vaccine mandate for businesses Thursday. The rules say companies with more than 100 employees must require them to be vaccinated or pass weekly Covid-19 tests. 

The Tennessee General Assembly passed sweeping legislation last week in a special session on Covid that takes away most companies’ ability to require vaccines or masks of their employees. That legislation, however, does not cover federal contractors. 

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the government’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors.  Tennessee joins Ohio and Kentucky in the suit. 

“Unless we intervene, federal contractors in Tennessee will be forced to make sense of the mandate’s many inconsistencies that require their entire workforce be vaccinated or face potential blacklisting and loss of future federal contracts,” Slatery said in a statement. “That is simply unworkable and this lawsuit seeks to stop it.”

The attorneys worry such a mandate could create a “workforce loss” big enough to present  “a significant concern for the economies of their states and could exacerbate ongoing supply chain issues.”

They argue the mandate is unconstitutional because Congress did not give the president authority to issue it.  

”Pronouncing that his ’patience is wearing thin’ with people who choose to forgo the Covid-19 vaccine, President Joe Biden signed an unlawful executive order to compel millions of Americans who work for government contractors to receive a Covid-19 vaccine,” reads the complaint. 

For Tennessee, Slatery argues that the mandate claims to preempt state law and violates the state’s sovereign interests to set its own laws. The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution dictates that federal law preempts state law, even when the laws conflict.

Categories
News Blog

State: Covid Shots for Kids Starts Thursday

(Credit: Dreamstime)

UPDATE: Starting Thursday, the Shelby County Health Department will begin vaccinating children age 5-11 years old on a walk-in basis at its immunization clinic at 814 Jefferson Avenue. Hours of operation are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m, Monday – Friday.

Many Tennessee health departments will begin vaccinating children aged 5-11 for Covid-19 on Thursday, state health leaders announced Wednesday. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the age group this week. The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) said the shot will be “widely available” across the state in the coming days as distribution ramps up throughout the country. 

Parents seeking the vaccine should visit vaccines.gov for availability.  

“The approval of the Covid-19 vaccine for pediatric patients further bolsters our efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19 and continue to put an end to this pandemic,” said TDH Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey. “As a pediatrician and parent, I trust the science. This is an exciting opportunity to vaccinate our younger population and protect not only our children but also our loved ones and those with whom they have contact.”

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Covid: Employee Vaccine Opt-Out Bill Moves in Senate

Credit: state of Tennessee

A bill moving in Nashville would give Tennessee employees a host of Covid-related protections against employers unless those employers include Ford Motor Co., any business that has received state funds, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, private schools, jails, prisons, and more likely to come. 

Tennessee senators passed the legislation — what bill sponsor Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) called the “big bill” or “omnibus bill” — in a committee hearing Friday morning. It’s big because it does a lot. It says: 

• No employer (private, government, nor school) can take any adverse action against an employee who refuses to show proof of a Covid-19 vaccine.      

• Any employee fired for not showing proof of a vaccine can get Tennessee unemployment benefits from wages lost in the past and into the future. 

• No vaccine can be given to a child without parental consent. 

• Creates two triggers (called a “severe condition”) for mask mandates: The governor has to declare a state of emergency. Counties seeking a mandate have to have a case rate of 1,000 cases per 100,000 population. 

• Mask mandates in counties can last only 14 days. 

• School districts cannot implement a district-wide mask mandate.

• In a severe condition, individual schools may ask the school board’s permission to institute a mask mandate. If approved, they would last 14 days. 

• Only the Tennessee Commissioner of Health can stipulate details of quarantine.

• Only those testing positive for Covid can be quarantined, not those exposed with a negative test. 

• Any employer that violates the new rules would lose liability protections set out by the legislature earlier this year. 

As debate on the “big bill” began Friday, exemptions to it began to flow. Ford Motor Co., which was just given $500 million by lawmakers last week, would be exempt. Carve-outs were promised, too, for all ot the entities listed in the top of the story. 

Sen. Sarah Kyle (D-Memphis) urged caution on the sweeping legislation and pointed to a letter she and others received from a long list of Tennessee businesses, nonprofits, and chambers of commerce, including the Greater Memphis Chamber and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“We oppose any proposals that outright remove the ability of an employer to determine their own vaccination and mask policies,” reads the letter. “We believe that any legislation of this kind is unnecessary government intrusion into the operation of our businesses. Tennessee’s strong business climate is based on this fundamental principle, including the state’s employment-at-will law.”       

Kyle asked Johnson to consider removing the bill for now and to bring it to the body again when it meets in January during the regular session. Johnson said about 100 lawmakers signed a letter to create the special session to deal with these Covid issues, including those in the bill. 

Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) said while he was voting for the bill, which he did, it was a “bitter pill to swallow.” He said he’d made commitments to many businesses in his district to not support the bill. However, he was given assurances that the legislation would be improved and his vote would allow other members to continue their work on it. 

“There’s a lot of work to be done and we’ll have to see what the final product is,” Briggs said. 

The bill was approved and moves on to the Senate Calendar Committee for a review next week.

Categories
News Blog News Feature

TN GOP Politicized COVID-19; Now Says COVID-19 “Should Not Be Political”

Credit: state of Tennessee

The same party that politicized state oversight of COVID-19 vaccines now urges Tennesseans to get the vaccine, saying it “should not be political.” 

Many members of the Tennessee state Senate Republican Caucus signed a letter issued Tuesday noting the recent spike in cases and said that “virtually all” of those who require hospitalization have been unvaccinated. 

House Republicans said in a committee meeting last month that they would consider dissolving the part of the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) that oversees vaccine awareness. They were angered over the department’s moves to get more minors vaccinated, especially those who might get the vaccine without their parents’ permission. 

Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) said those efforts amounted to “peer pressure applied by the state of Tennessee,” according to a story at the time from The Tennessean. Cepicky said he found the move to be “reprehensible … that you would do that to our youth.”

Sen. Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield), who did not sign Tuesday’s vaccine letter, said it seemed the state was “advocating” and said, “market to parents, don’t market to children. Period.”

Shortly after the hearing, Gov. Bill Lee fired Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the state’s top vaccine official. She claims she was scapegoated to appease Republicans angered over efforts to vaccine minors. 

The news made headlines across the country in stories that mostly criticized Tennessee Republicans and the Lee administration. State GOP leaders fired back with a statement calling attacks on them “intellectually dishonest and wrong.” Their concerns about vaccines and minors was interpreted as “anti-vaccine” they said.

Tuesday’s letter lauds the country’s general vaccine history, saying it has “been saving lives for over a century” and has eradicated polio and smallpox. Even the “new mRNA technology, which has caused some people to be vaccine hesitant, has been around for decades,” they said, adding an explanation on how it works. 

As for the COVID-19 vaccine, “we are well beyond the COVID-19 vaccine trial stag,” said the GOP missive. It noted that nearly 338 million doses have been given with “few adverse effects.” 

”Please compare the very rare instances of side effects with the more than 600,000 deaths in the U.S. which have occurred due to COVID-19,” reads the letter. “The facts are clear — the benefits of the vaccines far outweigh the risks.”

However, “under no circumstances” will Tennessee mandate vaccines or vaccine passports, Republicans said, as “we recognize this is a personal choice.” Still, they urged “Tennesseans who do not have a religious objection or a legitimate medical issue to get vaccinated.”

“Unfortunately, efforts to get more people vaccinated have been hampered by politicization of COVID-19,” reads the letter from the party that politicized COVID-19. “This should not be political. Tennesseans need factual information to make educated decisions regarding their health.”

Categories
News Blog News Feature

Shots Available for Youth 12-15 on Friday

(Credit: Dreamstime)

Vaccines can now be administered in Tennessee to children ages 12-15 years old.

The Pfizer vaccine was approved Wednesday for children in a decision from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to other federal agencies. The vaccine has only been available for those aged 16 and older. 

“We have been anticipating this decision for several weeks, and I am thrilled we can begin offering the Pfizer vaccine to children in this age group,” said Tennessee Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey. “As a mother and a pediatrician, I believe this vaccine to be safe and effective for children, and I hope other parents across the state are relieved to learn this option is available. 

Our local health departments have been working ahead in preparation for this decision, and vaccine supply is available.”

State officials said vaccines for this new age group can begin Friday, May 14th. City officials said Tuesday they hoped to begin giving shots to the age group on Thursday. 

In Memphis, this population is about 50,000, and leaders said getting them vaccines could really help the county reach its goals of having 700,000 vaccinated.  

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

How to Convert Vaccine Skeptics

I am not gonna miss my shot — but have you gotten yours? (Photo: Scaliger | Dreamstime.com)

Now that anyone in this part of the country who wants a COVID vaccine can get one, the difficulty has switched from having to wait to get a shot to convincing the still-unvaccinated to get theirs. We need to achieve herd immunity in order to protect people who truly can’t get vaccinated due to medical issues, and to try to stop the spread of the more deadly and contagious variants, like the ones currently ravaging India as the virus spreads and mutates through millions of hosts.

Some people truly don’t realize how easy getting a shot is, after initial months of long lines and confusing appointment processes. If you are talking to one of them, please help them get vaccinated.

From there, we have to move on to convincing the “vaccine hesitant.” Paradoxically, the people who have been screaming the loudest about wanting life to return to normal are often the most hesitant to take the easiest step to resuming normal life. The people who insist COVID is no big deal seem to be the ones most worried about the potential side effects, which are mainly a day or so of mild symptoms.

We have to convince people to get a shot, as many of them are being bombarded with propaganda to convince them otherwise. And you aren’t going to get someone to change by calling them a moron, even if they are getting medical advice from people like Tucker Carlson or Alex Jones (who have both argued in court that no reasonable person should believe anything said on their shows).

The reason reactionary propaganda is so effective is that it tells people, “You are smarter than everyone else. Your conditioned knee-jerk opinions are wiser than anything any expert says.” So, during a pandemic, we waste time debating about masks and vaccines instead of paid sick leave and universal healthcare.

It doesn’t matter that the talking heads think their audience are idiots, and are willing to get some of them killed if it means they can continue complaining about lockdowns and masks. They disguise their contempt. They’re telling the audience they’re smart. If you’re standing on the other side calling them an idiot, who do you think they’ll listen to? 

To get a reluctant person vaccinated, so we can all move forward, we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves and engage them as a rational person, even if you have to address talking points they pulled from YouTube videos. YouTube is successful because anyone can find confirmation bias for pretty much any belief there. If you want to believe the Earth is flat or the secret to good health is drinking your own urine or even that Donald Trump won the 2020 election, there are videos affirming your opinion. When someone is describing their vaccine concerns using their Fox News, YouTube, and meme-based “research,” we’re going to have to bite our tongue and address these points of view as serious concerns.

Blood clots? The risk from a vaccine is literally one in a million — infinitesimal compared to actually getting COVID.

You can still catch COVID after being vaccinated? There is no guarantee with any vaccine. That’s why herd immunity is crucial. The vaccines are amazingly effective at making sure you won’t get a case that requires hospitalization. They even guard against the variants hitting people who have already had COVID.

Why take a vaccine for a disease 98 percent of people survive? Most of us are vaccinated for a lot of diseases we’d probably survive: mumps, measles, rubella, tetanus, hepatitis A and B. But why suffer through something that’s easily preventable?

Worried about unknown long-term effects and don’t want to be a “guinea pig”? Go read firsthand accounts of COVID long-haulers, those suffering the unknown long-term effects that have doctors and scientists terrified.

A lot of formerly healthy workers are COVID long-haulers who no longer have the stamina for service industry jobs. When people complain that “no one wants to work anymore,” they’re probably referring to those jobs, which require constant hustling on your feet. No one wants to do that for wages that won’t pay their bills.

The service industry spent a year on the pandemic front lines, often dealing with a belligerent, unmasked public. A lot of people got fed up and changed careers. Remember the protestors a year ago demanding everything reopen immediately with signs like, “I need a haircut” and “I want a margarita”? Now they’re mad about the shortage of workers they once deemed expendable.

Craig David Meek is the author of Memphis Barbecue: A Succulent History of Smoke, Sauce & Soul.

Categories
News Blog News Feature

Mask Mandate Likely to End Wednesday, Shots for Youth (12-15) Could Begin Thursday

Shelby County Health Department/Facebook

Leaders hinted (again) Tuesday that a new health directive expected Wednesday would make masks a recommendation, not a requirement, but said they expected to begin vaccinating those as young as 12 years old on Thursday. 

Leaders have hinted at an end to the mask mandate for weeks. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris alluded to it again during a briefing from the Memphis Shelby County COVID-19 Task Force. 

He read the current health directive, which says ”if case numbers and other indicators remain stable over the next 30 days, the next health directive, which will be issued in May [12th] 2021, will shift from a mandatory approach to a recommendation approach [on masks].” Harris noted that the county’s virus numbers have remained stable for the last 30 days. But he would not say more as not to “get out in front of tomorrow’s announcement.”

“There is light at the end of the tunnel but we still have a long way to go,” Harris said.  

The new guidance expected Wednesday would end the department’s original county-wide mask mandate, which began in July. The Memphis City Council and Mayor Jim Strickland ordered a mask mandate inside the Memphis city limits in June.  

Tennessee never had a statewide mask mandate. But Gov. Bill Lee ended all public COVID-19 health orders late last month, which ended local authority for governments in 89 counties to issue mask mandates. 

At the same time, Lee requested counties with independent health departments (like Shelby) to end mask mandates no later than May 30. Knox, Hamilton, Sullivan, and Madison Counties already ended mandates. Shelby and Davidson Counties have not. 

“COVID-19 is now a managed public health issue in Tennessee and no longer a statewide public health emergency,” Lee said at the time. “As Tennesseans continue to get vaccinated, it’s time to lift remaining local restrictions, focus on economic recovery and get back to business in Tennessee.”

Shelby County’s COVID-19 cases have rebounded back to levels seen in early February. The latest average weekly positive rate reported (for the week of April 25th to May 1st) was 6.8 percent. That’s roughly the same rate reported at the end of May/beginning of June in 2020, though the rate is nowhere near the peaks of three surges the county experienced (11.8 percent in mid-April 2020, 12.7 percent in mid-July 2020, and the record-high 17.9 percent in late December 2020). 

Case rates could fall here, leaders said Tuesday, if they get the expected green light from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to begin vaccinating those as young as 12, a pool of about 50,000 in Shelby County. 

Doug McGowen, the city’s chief operating officer, said if the approval comes tomorrow, vaccines could go to children here Thursday. He said getting a vaccination is a “leadership opportunity” for young people.

“Young people have led the way in so many aspects of our lives through our history,” McGowen said. “This is an opportunity, again, for them to show the way and show they are ready to move on and … get vaccinated.” 

Demand for vaccinations is waning in Shelby County, he said. This will end many massive vaccinations sites around the county. While the Pipkin Building site will remain as a site, federal agencies will end their stints there on May 19th.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Survey: About Half in State Willing to Get Vaccine

Photo by Alex Mecl on Unsplash

Just over half of Tennesseans polled about COVID-19 vaccines were ”willing but hesitant” to get the shot, according to new market research from state officials. 

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) hired a third-party research firm for a survey of more than 1,000 adult Tennesseans “exploring sentiments around the COVID-19 vaccine.” All 95 Tennessee counties were included in the survey, though 82 percent of the respondents were white, 15 percent were African American, and 3 percent were Latinx. 

Here are the key findings from the report:

• 53.7 percent of all respondents are willing but hesitant to receive a COVID-19 vaccine  

• The main reasons associated with vaccine hesitancy are safety and unknown long-term or short-term effects.

• Physicians and medical staff were considered the most trusted voice for Tennesseans seeking information for vaccines. 

“The results are consistent with national trends and show that Tennesseans want more information from trusted sources as they make their decision,” said TDH Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey. “This market survey was an important step in identifying where we can be helpful in providing information about safety and effectiveness.”

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

TN Officials: J&J Vaccine Halt Won’t Impact Plans Here

(Credit: Dreamstime)

Supply of COVID-19 vaccines in Tennessee has surpassed demand in the state, state health officials said Tuesday.

The information was announced in a news release regarding new federal guidance on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Doses of that vaccine were halted Tuesday after six American women developed a rare blood-clotting disease after they received the shot.

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) said it would pause the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. But officials said the move would not likely hurt vaccination efforts here.

“Our vaccine supply continues to surpass demand and we do not anticipate this shift will impact our efforts to vaccinate as many Tennesseans as possible,” reads a news release from the TDH.

State officials are working with vaccine providers across the state that may have the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in supply and ensuring those who want a shot here have access to those made by Pfizer or Moderna.

Anyone looking for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment can visit covid19.tn.gov or vaccinefinder.org to schedule an appointment.