Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, asked the Dean of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Thursday about vaccine mandates. He argued that other countries have greater medical freedoms when it comes to vaccinations than the U.S.
Dr. Sarah Szanton was a witness at the Senate’s hearing on “Examining Healthcare Workforce Shortages”, which focused on national shortages in the nursing and doctor professions.
Paul, a Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders’s successor, took to the podium and asked Szanton whether she supports abortion for medical purposes.
Szanton stated, “Broadly, thank-you, yes.”
Paul asked, “Are your aware that your university does not allow students to choose between vaccinations and that all students must have three vaccines?”
“Yes.”
Paul said, “So it’s kind of choice, however, not so much when it comes to vaccination.” He then asked Szanton if she was aware of the increased risk of myocarditis associated with COVID vaccines, especially with subsequent COVID vaccinations for males between 16 and 24 years.
Paul interrupted Szanton’s statement, “I’m ready to talk about nursing crisis, and that there are vaccine requirements across all boards for-”
“Here’s a problem. If you exclude everyone from being a nurse believing in basic immunology you’re going to include [sic] many smart people, people that believe that you can get immunity through vaccinations as well as infection. And if we say, “Well, we just aren’t gonna take those who believe in the old-fashioned infection thing providing immunity. We’re only taking the people who do what we’re told. I mean, do people think individuals should receive the same treatment when they are older.
Paul said that individuals should be free to express their concerns about the vaccination before they point to other countries.
Paul stated that universities in Britain, France and Germany don’t have mandates for this. Some countries do not recommend it for children. You can have a debate or a discussion. If you believe in choice, there will be arguments on both sides.
Paul stated that the vaccine doesn’t stop transmission fully, and said, “When you mandate this, you can’t argue about protecting other people. It’s only about yourself at this point.”
Paul said, “This is not an argument against vaccinations. It’s an argument to think, and understand that people of different ages could react differently.”
The Public Health Agency of Sweden recommended that Novavax COVID-19 be stopped from being administered to anyone under 30 in November 2022, due to increased heart inflammation. Canadian researchers found that Moderna’s COVID-19 shot could have two to three times the heart-related side effects of Pfizer’s, but heart inflammation cases were very rare.
