Infections have remained low in the state, but demand for vaccines stalled as vaccine hesitancy has persisted among some Tennesseans — particularly Republicans. Lee and Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said they hope to launch a media campaign in the next months to battle hesitancy and misinformation about vaccine safety.
Supportive lawmakers cite misinformation, individual rights
But misinformation has come from within the walls of the legislature.
Sen. Janice Bowling, who sponsors the legislation, previously argued COVID-19 vaccines could cause genetic modification — a theory debunked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Bowling, R-Tullahoma, also downplayed the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday morning by falsely claiming data shows the disease is "no longer a pandemic." The deadly disease, which has killed almost 570,000 Americans and more than 12,000 Tennesseans, has remained a pandemic since the World Health Organization made the declaration March 2020.