Mediaite
Mediaite
‘White, Male, Rural Conservatives’ Won’t Get Vaccinated to Avoid ‘Placating the Left’: Tennessee’s Former Vax Chief
Leia Idliby - Thursday
Tennessee’s former vaccine chief Dr. Michelle Fiscus has claimed that the state’s “White, male, rural conservatives” are avoiding the Covid-19 vaccine to avoid “placating the left.”
Ficus said she was “dismayed” by the rumors and conspiracies surrounding the Covid-19 vaccine, noting that they’re beginning to launch theories about other childhood vaccines as well.
“But I think the other thing in Tennesse, and I think in a lot of our Southern states that’s happening, is this ideology that if you get this vaccine, you’re somehow placating the left part of the political spectrum,” she said, later revealing that, “Our most hesitant population in Tennessee is the white, male, rural conservatives.”
The doctor went on to condemn those who are avoiding the vaccine “out of spite,” noting that they’re putting their own lives and the lives of others at risk.
“They feel that if they get the vaccine, then they have placated the left or done what the Biden administration wants them to do,” she added.
The former top vaccine official was fired in July after she advised health providers to tell teenagers they do not need parental consent to receive their shots — guidance established by state law.
Days before her ousting, Ficus received a package containing a muzzle, her husband Brad Fiscus told The Tennessean.
“A friend dropped it back by the house. She wanted it as a souvenir,” he told the outlet. “She said, ‘whoever sent that must not know me very well. That’s for a beagle, but I’m a pit bull.'”