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Source: Virginia Plans Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations For All Residents | Zero Hedge<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n As Friday’s hospitalization numbers across the Sun Belt appear to confirm CDC head Dr. Robert Redfield’s assertion that the American COVID-19 outbreak has peaked and is starting to fade, the State of Virginia is setting a new precedent by seriously discussing forcing Virginians to be vaccinated with whatever rushed-to-marked candidate the FDA approves first.<\/p>\n During an interview that aired on Friday, the state’s health commissioner said he planned to invoke state law to make vaccinations mandatory – once a western product is available, presumably.<\/p>\n Here’s more from\u00a0ABC News 8:<\/a><\/p>\n State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver told 8News on Friday that he plans to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for Virginians once one is made available to the public.<\/p>\n Virginia state law gives the Commissioner of Health the authority to mandate immediate immunizations during a public health crisis if a vaccine is available. Health officials say an immunization could be released as early as 2021.<\/p>\n Dr. Oliver says that, as long as he is still the Health Commissioner, he intends to mandate the coronavirus vaccine.<\/p>\n “It is killing people now, we don\u2019t have a treatment for it and if we develop a vaccine that can prevent it from spreading in the community we will save hundreds and hundreds of lives,”\u00a0<\/strong>Oliver said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Pro-medical-choice activists in the state argue that the issue is a matter of medical choice, and that the hasty “expedited” approval process being implemented by the FDA is grounds for concern. State health authorities insist, meanwhile, that they would never mandate a vaccine that hadn’t already proven to be safe.<\/p>\n Virginia Freedom Keepers\u00a0Director of Communications Kathleen Medaries, a mother of three from Chesterfield, says this is a matter of medical choice.This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. It\u2019s not a pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine issue,” Medaries said.\u00a0“For me, it\u2019s an issue of being able to assess each vaccine for myself and my family one at a time.”<\/strong><\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n “He shouldn\u2019t be the one person to make a decision for all of Virginians,\u201d”<\/strong>Medaries responded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The state’s top medical official is opposed to a bill that has been put forth in the state assembly that would create more exemptions to the mandatory vaccination power, allowing exemptions on religious and other grounds.<\/p>\n Oliver believes that COVID-19 is a public health emergency that should take precedent over everything else, and that vaccine-assisted herd immunity is the state\u2019s best and only real defense.<\/p>\n The decision comes after Massachusetts said it would make the flu vaccine mandatory this year as part of a campaign to protect the state’s medical system. We suspect Virginia and Massachusetts won’t be the only states to discuss mandatory COVID and\/or flu vaccination in the coming weeks, as the school year begins.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Source: Virginia Plans Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations For All Residents | Zero Hedge As Friday’s hospitalization numbers across the Sun Belt appear to confirm CDC head Dr. Robert Redfield’s assertion that the American COVID-19 outbreak has peaked and is starting to fade, the State of Virginia is setting a new precedent by seriously discussing forcing Virginians … Continue reading Virginia Plans Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations For All Residents | Zero Hedge<\/span>