Protesters picket Med Center Health’s vaccine mandate for employees

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A group of more than 100 protesters, led by Bowling Green physician Randall Davidson and another person who declined to give out her full name, Wednesday picketed Med Center’s Health’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its employees.

They stood on a sidewalk with signs that read, “Worked all year with no vaccine now Med Center wants to fire us.” Another sign read, “no to mandatory vaccines.”

Med Center Health announced mandated vaccines for employees July 29. People in leadership roles within the organization were required to receive their first dose of the vaccine by Aug. 9 while all others have until Sept. 1.

“This requirement will also include medical staff, students, residents, fellows and vendors across the Med Center Health system,” read a release issued by the healthcare organization.

One of the protesters is an employee who intends to quit working rather than get the vaccine.

Aaron Pendley said he has already found a new job and will soon be leaving his position.

“For some people who may be still deciding if it’s right for them or they’re not sure I feel like it’s kind of pushing them the other way to kind of force it on them,” said Pendley.

One woman, Amanda Jaggers, claims that shortly after getting a flu vaccine, she contracted Bell’s palsy and is concerned another vaccine could cause it to come back.

“The research shows that if you get Bell’s palsy a second time it’s more likely to not go away and so not getting further flu vaccines and COVID vaccines is something that’s important to me because I’m only 36 I don’t want to have Bell’s palsy for the rest of my life,” said Jaggers.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the cause of Bell’s Palsy is unknown.

Davidson, one of the organizers of the protest, said the folks who are presently under the gun are the same ones who worked through the peak of the pandemic when things were hard and unknown to help the community.

“Personal choice is still a liberty I think that’s a God-given right now just because you’re an American citizen but if we allow this type of mandate to push through others will follow in the business community and before we know it it’s federal compulsion this is not America,” said Davidson.

Another organizer of the event, Sarah, asked to keep her last name private.

She said the vaccine is not the issue, the mandate is.

“I don’t support mandating the vaccine. I think that everyone should have the right to choose whether or not to get the vaccine but I think that as an American that’s our choice and it shouldn’t be forced on us and that invades all of our rights that we have,” said Sarah.

Wednesday, Med Center Health issued a statement about the protest.

“While Med Center Health respects everyone’s right to peacefully protest, we stand firmly behind our decision requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19,” the statement reads. “This decision is part of Med Center Health’s commitment to do all we can to protect our patients, employees and our community. Multiple health systems across the Commonwealth, representing 75% of the state’s hospital beds, have since announced the same requirement for their staff. More than 60 health and medical groups across the country have endorsed this position as well.

“The Kentucky Hospital Association, Kentucky Medical Association, and Kentucky Nurses Association support
requiring COVID-19 vaccination for health care employees. 99% of our active Med Center Health physicians have voluntarily chosen to receive the vaccine and increasing numbers of our employees are choosing to be vaccinated. We encourage the community to follow the example of our healthcare team and get vaccinated for COVID-19.”

This was the scene at 12 p.m. Wednesday: