Vaccine mandate hearing at Indiana Statehouse turns chaotic
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Supporters of restrictions on employer vaccine mandates spoke for hours on Thursday in a hearing that saw outbursts of applause and even interruptions.
A state House of Representatives committee gaveled in shortly after 9 a.m. to take testimony on a vaccine mandate bill. By then, speakers had already filled most of the seats in the House chamber. The bill in question would prohibit employers from requiring a COVID-19 vaccine unless they allow employees to claim religious or medical exemptions.
Despite instructions from committee chair Heath VanNatter, a Republican from Burlington, to limit comments to three minutes each, speakers went well past the time allotted. Lawmakers heard a variety of criticism, from the philosophy of government mandates to the science behind the vaccines themselves.
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Bill supporters repeatedly applauded each other’s comments despite being instructed not to do so.
Most supporters, including Howard County resident Jason Stockberg, said they had no plans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
“If just 20% of those people lose their job because they will not get the shot, that’s 650,000 people that will be entering the unemployment line, and I will be one of them,” he said.
Dr. Gabriel Bosslet, fellowship director for the IU School of Medicine’s critical care program, was one of the few people to speak against the bill. He said it would only encourage people not to get vaccinated at a time when state data show intensive care units’ bed availability is at a record low, 13.2%.
“We have been able to scale up ICU beds and ventilators but we have not been able to scale up people. There are no more of me. There are no more nurses,” he said. “In fact, there are fewer nurses.”
Bill supporters shouted at Bosslet there were fewer nurses because they had been fired, to which he replied they quit due to exhaustion.
State lawmakers on the committee did not vote on the legislation Thursday.
The legislative short session will begin Jan. 4 and last no later than March 14.