Meet Dr. Sherri Tenpenny. She calls herself the “most knowledgeable and outspoken physician on the adverse impact that vaccines can have on health.” The Center for Countering Digital Hate, on the other hand, identifies her as number four among its “Disinformation Dozen” … “twelve anti-vaxxers who play leading roles in spreading digital misinformation about Covid vaccines.”
She is also one of 517 people who offered testimony earlier this week in the Health Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives in favor of Ohio House Bill 248, the Vaccine Choice and Anti-Discrimination Act. That bill would:
- Prohibit anyone from mandating, incentivizing, or otherwise requesting their employees, customers, or students get vaccinated;
- Make it illegal for anyone to require a vaccination for someone who refuses based on medical contraindication, natural immunity, religious convictions, or other reasons of conscience; and
- Prohibit anti-vax discrimination.
This is a clip of Dr. Tenpenny’s testimony, the scariest, and craziest, offered that day.
You did not misunderstand this doctor. She literally believes that the COVID-19 vaccine is turning people into Magneto. This is the 🦇 💩 🤪 misinformation we are battling in trying to get enough people vaccinated.If we never reach herd immunity, if COVID-19 becomes endemic like the flu virus, if people continue to get sick, suffer long-term health effects, and die, Sherri Tenpenny and her disinformation will be largely responsible.
Employers, do your part. Provide legitimate scientific information to your vaccine-hesitant employees to educate them about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. If they are still hesitant or fall back on the conspiracy theories of Team-Tenpenny, I’d have The Center for Countering Digital Hate’s Disinformation Dozen resource available to further educate them.
I’m comfortable knowing I’ve done my part to get vaccinated, to get my family vaccinated, and to help get others vaccinated by speaking the truth about these vaccines. Are you comfortable with your efforts?
This post originally appeared on the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog, and was written by Jon Hyman, Partner, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis. Jon can be reached at via email at jhyman@meyersroman.com, via telephone at 216-831-0042, on LinkedIn, and on Twitter.
