Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has taken a stand against mandating the COVID vaccine for school children.
QUICK FACTS:
- Republican Governor Bill Lee has announced that families in Tennessee will not be required to follow the CDC’s recommendation to add the COVID vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule.
- “I’ve always said mandates are the wrong approach, & TN has led in pushing back on federal covid vaccine requirements,” Lee tweeted.
- While the CDC has issued the recommendation, the agency cannot demand states to follow and the decision is not a mandate.
- Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office also released a statement, urging CDC Director Rochelle Walensky to reject the committee’s proposal.
- “Tennessee continues to oppose federal vaccine mandates and stands firm in defense of personal freedom,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a tweet. “Tennessee law already protects children and families from today’s CDC vote.”
TENNESSEE GOV. LEE ON STANDING FOR PROTECTING CHILDREN’S FREEDOM:
“Thanks to our work with the General Assembly, TN families won’t be impacted by today’s CDC vote. We’ll continue to stand for TN children & for personal freedom,” Lee said.
BACKGROUND:
- In November 2021, Governor Lee signed the state’s Covid-19 omnibus bill, ensuring government entities could not force private businesses to institute coronavirus-related mandates.
- The bill also made it so that private businesses were prohibited from taking action against unvaccinated employees and prevented companies from forcing customers to show proof of vaccination, American Faith reported at the time.
- “I oppose vaccine passports. The COVID-19 vaccine should be a personal health choice, not a government requirement,” Lee said in April 2021.
