Idaho’s Southwest District Health recently voted to remove the COVID-19 vaccine from healthcare service clinics.
The 4-3 vote affects 30 locations.
According to Boise State Public Radio, the board received public comments condemning the vaccine’s distribution. Some of the comments included, “Has the COVID shot not done enough damage? Please do not continue to inflict this on our children. The CDC is wrong and we are tired of their self-serving policies” and, “Please do not recommend the Covid vaccine for all residents of Idaho. This shot is bad news and should not be forced on Idahoans.”
The board’s chair, however, questioned whether it had the power to remove the vaccine.
“So now, you’re telling me that I have the right to override that doctor? Because I know more than he does?” health board chair Kelly Aberasturi said, adding, “It has to do with the right of the individual to make that decision on their own. Not for me to dictate to them what they will do.”
Dr. John Tribble, the only physician on the health board, said that continuing to offer the vaccine breaks public trust. He said, “They show up at the door, trusting us, and we continue to break that trust by saying, tacitly or otherwise, that these things, there’s no risk from these.”
Tribble told The Defender that those who voted to pull the vaccine from clinics “exhibited courage.”
“I believe our actions here stand as an example and precedent for other health agencies to take back control of their health and freedoms from a corrupted federal system,” he said. “I hope this will inspire other health agencies to openly discuss this issue and evaluate the evidence for themselves.”
Last year, Republican lawmakers from Idaho introduced a bill to make administering mRNA vaccines a misdemeanor.
According to the bill’s text, “A person may not provide or administer a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology for use in an individual or any other mammal in this state.”
