The Tennessee Department of Health will review the content of its COVID-19 vaccine advocacy campaign after conservative lawmakers discussed dissolving the agency to stop it from “peer pressuring” teenagers, the state’s top health officials said Monday.
Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said she did not believe the department pressured any teens to get vaccinated against the deadly virus but would double-check its advertisements and social media postings to be certain.
The conflict over how to promote the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine illustrates a growing partisan divide in Tennessee, which has one of the slowest vaccination rates in the nation. Only 35% of Tennesseans are fully vaccinated, and the state's vaccination pace has dropped 85% since its peak in April.
The review comes in advance of a looming legislative hearing where politicians are expected to at least consider ending the health agency altogether.
It was everything except evitable that reluctance would ultimately surface in the Tennessee state assembly, where a Republican supermajority controls a significant part of the state's strategy. During a combative gathering the General Operations Committee on June 16, a few officials disagreed with wellbeing division flyers and Facebook posts that energize inoculation and expressed immunizations are accessible to those age 12 and more established.
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