Tennessee’s top vaccine official says it shot teens

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NASHVILLE — Across the country, public health officials are leaving their jobs, nervous about a pandemic unlike anything they’ve faced before, and then more testing as the coronavirus and vaccines become embroiled in politics and disinformation.

In Tennessee, Michelle Fiscus, the state’s chief vaccination officer, said this week she was forced to quit her job after writing a memo describing a 34-year-old legal doctrine that some teens might get vaccines without their parents’ permission. Dr. Fiscus’ note came as state conservative lawmakers criticized her agency’s efforts to raise awareness of vaccines among teens.

One Republican lawmaker, Scott Sebeki, accused the agency of using “peer pressure” to get young people to get vaccinated.

In a lengthy and heartfelt statement describing her departure, Dr. Fiscus said lawmakers’ actions have put the public at grave risk by undermining confidence in vaccines even as cases of the virus have increased in Tennessee and as concerns about the delta variant emerge in parts of the country.

“I am not a political activist,” Dr. Fiscus wrote, “I am a physician who was, until today, tasked with protecting the residents of Tennessee, including its children, from preventable diseases like Covid-19.” The shooting was reported by Tennessee.

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Health on Tuesday declined to comment on the dismissal of Dr. Fiscus, the agency’s medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programmes, saying the agency could not discuss personnel matters.

Tennessee is among the states where the virus has spread as vaccination efforts have faltered, leaving public health officials grappling with political resistance and false information about the safety of shots.

As in much of the country, the outlook for the virus in Tennessee has improved significantly since the winter, when cases spiked. But in the past two weeks, the number of newly reported cases has risen, averaging more than 460 a day, according to the New York Times database. However, the vaccination rate has stopped. About 43 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, falling behind the national average of 55 percent.

Lawmakers intensified after circulating Dr. Fiscus’ memorandum to medical providers to explain the so-called mature secondary doctrine, which allows doctors to treat patients between the ages of 14 and 18 without parental consent under a state Supreme Court ruling from 1987. The memo reiterated information that was available has been publicly available on the Ministry of Health website for years.

In recent weeks, lawmakers have referenced the agency’s memo and announcements on social media, arguing that the department was doing its best to reach teens. During the hearings, lawmakers raised the possibility of dissolving the department.

updated

July 13, 2021 at 2:56 p.m. ET

“When you have ads like this, with a little girl with a patch on her arm, and she’s all smiling,” Mr Cepicky said as he lifted a hard copy of a social media post during a recent hearing. “We all know how vulnerable our young people are, and they want to integrate into life.”

During last month’s hearing, Lisa Percy, the state’s health commissioner, sought to allay lawmakers’ concerns, saying, “Under no circumstances does the administration encourage children to seek vaccinations without parental consent.”

She said she was aware of only eight cases in which the doctrine was invoked to vaccinate a minor. Three of them, she said, were her children, and they were vaccinated while she worked.

Since then, the administration has resumed its campaign, removing leaflets telling the public that people 12 or older were eligible for vaccination.

In her statement, Dr. Fiscus, who was a pediatrician practicing in suburban Nashville before joining the Department of Health, said her dismissal reflects the difficult climate for public health officials, who were usually petty figures before the pandemic but suddenly were. It highlights a complex and politically hateful situation.

Dr. Fiscus writes: “Along the way we have been flouted, belittled, accused and sometimes insulted by the common people who chose not to believe in science, and the elected and appointed officials who put their personal interest above the people they were chosen to represent and protect.”

She added, “It has been my job, to provide evidence-based education and access to a vaccine so that Tennessee can protect themselves from Covid-19. I am now terminated to do exactly that.”

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