‘Republican lawmakers in Montana doubled down. They passed the nation’s most extreme anti-vaccination law. Not even nurses in a cancer ward could be required to get the shots. This is a story about what can happen when politics trump public health. ’ https://www.propublica.org/article/montana-covid-response-pushed-hospital-to-brink
New legislator and antivaxxer, Rep. Jennifer Carlson, mother of five with a biomedical science degree and elected 2020had not previously been an antvaxxer...childhood vaccinations.
But one child, she recalled, had suffered a severe reaction. Soon after she took office, Carlson introduced legislation that she said she got help drafting from the leader of a popular Facebook group, Montanans for Vaccine Choice. Her legislation gave the unvaccinated standing as a “protected class,” making it illegal to discriminate against them.
No employers could require vaccinations of any kind. The language covered all vaccines, including measles, mumps and other standard childhood vaccinations. There were no exemptions for people working at hospitals.
Medi Hassan: "At the start of the pandemic, Montana fared better than average when it came to Covid deaths per capita. Then, a Republican became governor [Greg Gianforte] , safety measures were pushed aside and hospitals were pushed to the brink. A local nurse, Vicky Rae Byrd, joins Mehdi to discuss this preventable American tragedy.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo-Eiy2Xx_0
People who get covid and survive aren't necessarily "well" - I have 3 female relatives who got it: one age 73 died of a heart attack after becoming walker-dependent, one age 75 now uses a cane, one age 58 uses a walker.
I'm not surprised. Montana is a beautifully scenic place, but there are a lot of RWNJ living there and more are moving in from blue states. I used to visit a friend who lives there and during the height of the pandemic hardly any people wore masks. It was disheartening. I haven't been back in over a year, not sure when or if I'll return.
It makes one wonder if another outcome might be migration of blue healthcare workers out of the state and more non-handwashing, anti-vax, profit-driven, anti-science workers moving in. I feel for the healthcare workers in the story. In addition to having to deal with the huge workload of preventable illness and the public's horrible behavior, they also have the governor trying to recruit co-workers for them who don't give a flying F about spreading infection. The quality, caring professionals will experience more burnout. Doesn't make me want to visit Montana anytime soon.
Great in-depth story, worth the long read. It seems Republican politicians just do the opposite of Democratic politicians, just to get votes. They don’t care that they are killing people. Here in the UK our politicians may be a bunch of liars and scoundrels but almost all of them are on the same page about the pandemic. When are Republican voters going to understand the colourful graphs that are so easy to understand?