Indiana doctor: “The message [HB 1001] sends is that vaccines aren’t important. Vaccines are important. They are the only way to end this.”
Indiana Hospital Association: “It looks like we are going to soon match or surpass the greatest number of COVID patients we have had throughout the hospital”
IndyStar: Indiana ranks last on list of ‘Safest States During COVID-19’
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today criticized the Indiana Republican Party’s partisan strategy to discredit the COVID-19 vaccine just as Indiana has become the most dangerous state in the nation during the pandemic. The INGOP statehouse supermajority furthered their plans last week to shove through House Bill 1001 during next year’s legislative session, which would get fewer vaccines in arms and force Indiana’s business community to pay for critical COVID-19 testing at workplaces.
This extreme and partisan strategy by the INGOP comes as the dangerous omicron variant reached Indiana and as hospitals reached the “highest rate” of hospitalizations since the pandemic began.
Indiana Democrats have done everything possible to help Hoosier families put COVID-19 in the rearview mirror. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, Hoosiers have every opportunity to get a vaccine and all 92 counties have received critical relief to make up for lost revenues. Democrats delivered and created this brighter future for families, but unfortunately, the Indiana Republican Party’s extreme partisanship is rooting against these once-in-a-generation investments and the opportunity for Hoosiers to move on from the pandemic.
Here’s a sampling of what Hoosiers are reading ahead of the Christmas holiday:
Indiana Reaching Worst COVID-19 Levels to Date
IndyStar: Indiana ranks last on list of ‘Safest States During COVID-19’
WRTV: “As coronavirus cases continue to climb with thousands of new cases reported daily, health officials say hospitals are seeing more patients than they have room for.
“We have never had this many patients in our hospitals in Indiana before,” said Indiana Hospital Association President Brian Tabor. “It looks like we are going to soon match or surpass the greatest number of COVID patients we have had throughout the hospital.”
WANE: First case of Omicron variant confirmed in Indiana
Economist Micah Pollak: “I understand hospitals not wanting to talk about how bad things are right now. But they NEED to make the public aware. Because when it gets worse over the next few weeks (which it very likely will) people will say “Why didn’t you tell us it was this bad?”
Opposition to House Bill 1001
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: COVID bill facing criticism, changes
“The message [HB 1001] sends is that vaccines aren’t important. Vaccines are important. They are the only way to end this.”
IndyStar: “Lawmakers are once again fast-tracking a bill that could discourage Indiana companies from mandating COVID-19 vaccines, even as those in the business community and health experts are pleading with them to hit the brakes.”
Statehouse File: Hoosiers speak against vaccine mandates in hours-long session
WISH-TV: Vaccine mandate hearing at Indiana Statehouse turns chaotic
Associated Press: “Some Indiana doctors and health experts warned Thursday that a Republican-backed proposal aimed at limiting workplace COVID-19 vaccination requirements would hurt efforts to stem the illness as the state’s hospitals are strained with their highest-ever overall patient counts.”
CNHI: Much of anti-mandate bill testimony spreads misinformation amid case surge
As Indiana’s hospitals beg for assistance from the Indiana National Guard to address surging COVID-19 caseloads, the argument about whether employers, including hospitals, can mandate COVID-19 vaccines continues to develop in the Statehouse. […]
Language in the bill seemingly contradicts Indiana’s history as a right-to-work, business-friendly state by expanding the role of state government…
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