2021 S.D. Legislature: Legislature should have input on COVID vaccine

Another week has gone by, and it seems we continue to get mixed messages from the National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control as to the facts surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines. There are statements made each day which sound as though there is irrefutable scientific support for various protocols, whether they are treatment protocols or vaccination protocols. Then, the next day you will likely hear information from those same organizations or other reliable scientific sources that is the exact opposite. That is why I requested the Governor to call a Special Session of the Legislature in an effort to sort out fact from speculation. I have heard no response from the Governor.

My expectation for a Special Session would be to at least gather information with as little political bias as possible. At both the national level and the state level, we are experiencing a tremendous lack of accurate information.  A good example of an amazing lack of necessary information is Dr. Fauci’s statement in the past few days wherein he stated that he is unaware of the ‘durability’ of naturally occurring antibodies resulting from infection with COVID-19. That statement alone seems to be a dereliction of duty when he has been tasked with advising the public with accurate and reliable information about all aspects of the virus. He seemed to suggest that his agency has not been gathering that information. That information would obviously have a very significant impact upon the decisions people are now making and the public policies that should be established.  

It is the lack of information that has left so many people hesitant to take the vaccine and left so many unsure of whether they continue to be vulnerable to the infection even after recovering from the infection. That lack of information has also created a significant skepticism among a large percentage of the population.

The information about full approval of the vaccines is not being accurately reported either. The vaccines carry with them varying levels of approval depending upon what country you are in and whether you are talking about approval of the vaccine itself, or just some of the elements of the vaccine. It is also interesting to understand that some aspects of the vaccines are ‘approved’ under the Emergency Use Authorization provisions of the FDA. That is not the same as full approval following the typical clinical trials and the other typical studies involving duration and reactions.

The pandemic should never have become a source of division among Americans. I do believe it is still possible to remove the hype and political bias from this issue, but every day that goes by lessens the possibility that we could either agree, or agree to disagree. Respectable professionals on both sides of these issues should be allowed to make their case in the hope that the response to this pandemic would be based more on fact as opposed to emotion. 

If the goal of ‘herd immunity’ is to seek a level of actual immunity, then I would think there would be due consideration given to those who have naturally acquired that immunity. Presently, it appears that is being left out of the vaccine discussion and is therefore being left out of the business requirement relating to vaccines.

Again, I believe a public discussion through our state legislature could be very helpful in determining issues addressing South Dakota’s public health. I ask that you express your views to both your district representatives as well as the Governor.  

Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments or go to www.sdlegislature.gov to see what else is happening in state government.