The state of Tennessee Department of Heath on Monday fired one of the organization’s top vaccination officials, Dr. Michelle Fiscus.

Fiscus, the fired employee and medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs, claims she was blamed after the department faced heavy backlash from Tennessee state lawmakers over the department’s push to get children vaccinated.

“Specifically, it was MY job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19. I have now been terminated for doing exactly that,” she claimed in a released statement.

Recently, the Department of Health came under fire from some members of the Tennessee state legislature  for the mechanisms used in their push to vaccinate teenagers.

“We know how impressionable our young people are. For a department of ours to make it seem like you need a vaccine … to fit in is peer pressure applied by the state of Tennessee. Personally, I think it’s reprehensible that you would do that, that you would do that to our youth,” Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka said while questioning state Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey.

Specifically, lawmakers targeted Dr. Fiscus due to her decision to circulate a “Mature Minor Doctrine” — a legal option that allows healthcare officials to vaccinate minors above the age of 14 without consent from their parents.

In her letter, Fiscus claimed the doctrine was approved by the TDH Office of General Counsel.

“I am ashamed of them. I am afraid for my state. I am angry for the amazing people of the Tennessee Department of Health who have been mistreated by an uneducated public and leaders who have only their own interests in mind,” she continued.

The state of Tennessee has not publicly commented on Fiscus’s departure.

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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Dr. Michelle Fiscus” by the TN Dept of Health.