| When the Indiana General Assembly convenes on January 4, their first order of business will be to pass House Bill 1001 that allows the governor to end the public health emergency and will also restrict businesses from imposing vaccine mandates. Before Christmas Indiana legislators heard testimony about House Bill 1001. Dr Gabriel Bosslet gave an impassioned plea opposing the bill based on his experiences with the virus and importance of vaccines. Dr. Bosslet, an Indiana University Health critical care physician, told the committee that he’s seen people “die needlessly” because they didn’t get vaccinated and was frustrated with an intensive care unit where nearly all COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated.“ The message this bill sends is that vaccines are not important,” Bosslet said. “Vaccines are important. They are the only way to end this.” (Insurance Journal) “These are facts. Facts are stubborn and hard,” Dr. Donald Weserhausen, president of the Indiana chapter of the American College of Cardiology testified. “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion; they’re not entitled to (their) facts.” (Herald Bulletin) Lawmakers also “heard testimony opposing the bill from nearly every business sector, including manufacturing and hospitality representatives.” (News and Tribune) These testimonies were in stark contrast to much of the crowd and other testimony in support of the bill as they expounded lies and misinformation about the vaccines and the virus. Nearly all republican representatives are co-sponsoring this bill. Watch Dr Bosslet’s testimony here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VvrzzdGfwX8 Watch his interview on the Rachel Maddow show: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1oXhZn6c5Bw Contact your representative and senator. Indiana is languishing near the bottom of all states in its response to this virus. This week a record number of Hoosiers died and a near record number tested positive. Hospitals are filling up, burned out healthcare workers are leaving the profession and few ICU beds are available. “Since the start of the pandemic, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 97.1% of Indiana’s 1.2 million total COVID-19 infections, 99.94% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 99.97% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths, according to the Indiana Department of Health.” (NWI Times) Indiana lawmakers could protect Hoosiers from a deadly disease by at least allowing businesses to impose mitigation measures including vaccine mandates. They could protect Hoosiers by following the science as it evolves about this virus and ways to keep us all healthy and alive. Instead they are are being guided by lies and misinformation. Those of us who have done everything we can to protect ourselves, our family, and our communities against this virus have freedoms too. We have the right to not be unnecessarily exposed to a deadly virus by the unvaccinated and unmasked. The vaccines are safe and effective—and have been given to billions. Masking is easy. Our legislators need to protect OUR freedoms. Contact your representative and senator. |
