One of the biggest struggles health care professionals are facing in states with high rates of COVID-19 is convincing more people to get vaccinated in order to protect themselves and others from the virus. In Georgia, that struggle is being compounded by the fact that public health workers at several vaccine clinics are being harassed and threatened by anti-vaccination protesters.
According to the office of Georgia’s top health official, Department of Public Health commissioner Kathleen Toomey, public health staff at vaccine events in the state “have been harassed, yelled at, threatened and demeaned by some of the very members of the public they were trying to help.”
In southern Georgia, for example, anti-vaccine activists (oftentimes colloquially referred to as “anti-vaxxers”) tracked down on social media health workers who were part of a vaccine clinic. Once online, those individuals harangued those workers with hostile messages, filling their pages with misinformation about vaccines, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
At another clinic held in the northern part of the state, vaccine workers decided to halt their event altogether following harassment by anti-vaxxers. After staff said they felt threatened by protesters who were yelling at them, organizers realized that anyone else who came to get a vaccine that day would feel similarly. Not wanting to put people seeking a vaccine in that position, the staff decided to close the event early instead.
“This is wrong. This is absolutely wrong,” Toomey said at a press conference on Monday. “These people are giving their lives to help others and to help us in the state. We in Georgia can do better.”
Toomey added:
Maybe it comes with the territory of someone in my position, but it shouldn’t be happening to those nurses who are working in the field to try to keep this state safe. We should be thanking these individuals for trying to get lifesaving vaccines to our state.
Only 41 percent of Georgia residents are fully vaccinated at this time, a rate that’s much lower than the 52 percent for the U.S. population overall. Georgia also ranks high in terms of how many new cases of coronavirus are being identified each day, on average, on a per capita basis, with only six other states in the country having higher rates.
The harassment of health care professionals and public health officials throughout the pandemic has, sadly, been commonplace. Just last month, for example, health care professionals who testified in favor of masking rules for schools in Franklin, Tennessee, were surrounded and shouted at by residents with anti-mask views, some of whom made direct threats toward them.
“We know who you are. You’ll never be allowed in public again,” one man said at that event.
“We will find you,” said another.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy