GOP Rep. Says Vaccine Is 'Experimental,' Won't Reveal Vax Status to Not 'Take Sides'
A Wisconsin town hall representative is speaking out after the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics (UW Health) issued a mandate, requiring all health care workers to get vaccinated.
On Wednesday, Representative Glenn Grothman spoke at the Brooklyn Town Hall about how he's against employers, including health care workers mandating vaccines for its employees. His views are based on feedback he's received from medical professionals who don't want the vaccine to be attached to their employment.
"I think, particularly as this vaccine is still experimental, I don't like the idea of forcing people, to keep their job, to do something they are opposed to," Grothman said during the town hall meeting.
Dr. Ray Jeorgen, who works at the Theda Clark Medical Center in Wisconsin pushed back on Grothman's comments at the Town Hall, stating that the severity of the Delta variant outweighs the option of whether someone should get the vaccine or not.
"It's not a political issue; it's a science, health care issue," Jeorgen said. "And we need to protect the citizens of our state and, for that matter the country and, right now, vaccines are where it's at and it can protect people."
"What I've been telling people is you have more of a chance of getting killed in a car crash than you are of getting a complication from the vaccines as we know it," Jeorgen continued.
"People throw around the experimental term but if we believed a lot of that, there'd be polio running around, people would have smallpox."
Grothman also spoke about the lack of information that employers have provided regarding the administering of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"From what I get, the medical community has not done a good enough job of educating their own employees," Grothman said. "I have to take that into account when I get so many nurses come up to me who, presumably, are familiar with the medical situation saying 'please prevent my employer from forcing me to do this.'"
On Wednesday, UW issued the mandate due to the rise of COVID-19 Delta variant cases in the state. They also stated the vaccine is safe to take for all individuals.
"These vaccines are safe; they are effective at preventing transmission; and for those who do contract COVID-19, they reduce the possibility of serious illness, hospitalizations or even death," Dr. Jeff Pothof of UW Health told WKOW News.
"As we confront the rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout Wisconsin, driven by the Delta variant, we want to do everything possible to protect our staff, our patients, and our community."
Currently, 90 percent of UW Health's staff are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
