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Top Tennessee COVID-19 vaccine official says she was terminated
The top state vaccination official in Tennessee said she was terminated on Monday for no reason but claimed she was being used as a scapegoat to please state lawmakers upset about her department's efforts to increase vaccinations among teenagers, The Tennessean reports.
Michelle Fiscus, medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, told The Tennessean that she was fired Monday afternoon. Her termination comes as COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the state.
"It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19," Fiscus told the newspaper in a statement. "I have now been terminated for doing exactly that."
The Tennessean notes that state lawmakers criticized Fiscus by name last month during a committee hearing, expressing anger over a letter she had sent to medical providers about the “Mature Minor Doctrine,” which allows minors over the age of 14 to get vaccinated without their parents' consent.
This legal mechanism has been in place since 1987 and has been publicly available online since 2008.
With Fiscus' termination, the Volunteer State joins around two dozen other states that have been left without a top vaccine authority, all for various reasons but most often because the official left.
Fiscus shared a 1,200-word statement with The Tennessean following her firing on Monday.
In it, she wrote she would "not sit quietly by while our public health infrastructure is eroded in the midst of a pandemic."
"We are a group of dedicated public health professionals who have worked endless hours to make COVID-19 vaccines, the ONE tool we have to effectively end the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic, available to every person in our jurisdictions," she wrote, bemoaning how health experts have been "disparaged, demeaned, accused, and sometimes vilified" by the public throughout the pandemic.
"I am not a political operative, I am a physician who was, until today, charged with protecting the people of Tennessee, including its children, against preventable diseases like COVID-19," Fiscus added.
The top state vaccination official in Tennessee said she was terminated on Monday for no reason but claimed she was being used as a scapegoat to please state lawmakers upset about her department's efforts to increase vaccinations among teenagers, The Tennessean reports.
Michelle Fiscus, medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, told The Tennessean that she was fired Monday afternoon. Her termination comes as COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the state.
"It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19," Fiscus told the newspaper in a statement. "I have now been terminated for doing exactly that."
The Tennessean notes that state lawmakers criticized Fiscus by name last month during a committee hearing, expressing anger over a letter she had sent to medical providers about the “Mature Minor Doctrine,” which allows minors over the age of 14 to get vaccinated without their parents' consent.
This legal mechanism has been in place since 1987 and has been publicly available online since 2008.
With Fiscus' termination, the Volunteer State joins around two dozen other states that have been left without a top vaccine authority, all for various reasons but most often because the official left.
Fiscus shared a 1,200-word statement with The Tennessean following her firing on Monday.
In it, she wrote she would "not sit quietly by while our public health infrastructure is eroded in the midst of a pandemic."
"We are a group of dedicated public health professionals who have worked endless hours to make COVID-19 vaccines, the ONE tool we have to effectively end the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic, available to every person in our jurisdictions," she wrote, bemoaning how health experts have been "disparaged, demeaned, accused, and sometimes vilified" by the public throughout the pandemic.
"I am not a political operative, I am a physician who was, until today, charged with protecting the people of Tennessee, including its children, against preventable diseases like COVID-19," Fiscus added.
Top Tennessee COVID-19 vaccine official says she was terminated
The top state vaccination official in Tennessee said she was terminated on Monday for no reason, claiming she was being used as a scapegoat to please state lawmakers upset about her department…
thehill.com