When the Alabama Legislature was deliberating earlier this year the possibility of a vaccine passport ban, some in the political class and in the media derided those efforts.
However, as cases of COVID-19 are back on the rise and the push by health officials to vaccinate the unvaccinated has become hyperaggressive, that effort led by State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) seems to be more relevant and justified than ever.
During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Orr explained why it was important to put a vaccine passport ban in place to protect the civil liberties of Alabama residents.
“I certainly agree with you and the way you’re seeing people who are making their personal decisions regarding the vaccine,” Orr said. “You know, there are some downsides to the vaccine, particularly for those who have religious concerns. You know the [Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System] reporting network shows 6,000-12,000 deaths because of the vaccine, and the people who reported after getting it resulted in the death of the recipient. There are some people concerned about it. But my point is really not so much about the vaccine. It’s about letting people make that health care decision on their own and the civil liberties of Alabamians.”
“You’re right — I was mocked and just trying to see boogeymen about there that didn’t exist,” he continued. “But it’s troubling to see particularly elected officials, again, vilifying people who have serious issues with just receiving the vaccine. We’ve never done this before in the middle of a pandemic requiring vaccination. It’s something — we need to move cautiously, and that’s something I think we were able to achieve in providing some level of cautionary defense for those who have concerns about being vaccinated with this emergency use authorized vaccination.”
The Morgan County lawmaker said there was a tendency in higher education to follow the example set by Ivy Leagues schools.
“Particularly in higher ed, you find once the Ivy [League] said we’re going to mandate vaccinations across the board for everybody, and all the other schools want to follow suit, and just take the plunge, follow the herd and do what the Ivy Leagues schools want to do,” he replied. “It’s just one of those things — again, we need to move cautiously with this, get all the information out there, let people make sound medical decisions and go from there, rather than just across-the-board trample on people’s rights for the body as to what they put in them, and just allow some flexibility when it comes to that process.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
