Benefits of the Vaccine and Returning to Normal Life

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, since March, I have traveled my district, administering COVID-19 vaccines. As a doctor and former Director of Public Health, I combat vaccine hesitancy by discussing the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, and the benefits of returning to normal lives, removing our masks, gathering together, and reopening businesses and schools by attaining herd immunity.

But the deepening mental health crisis has become an epidemic within the pandemic. Yesterday, I read of yet another youth suicide. Eighteen- year-old star quarterback Dylan Buckner, with plans to attend MIT, committed suicide on January 7. His father said that the Illinois extended stay-at-home orders and school closures greatly contributed to his suicide.

As leaders, it is our responsibility to encourage and incentivize vaccinations. One incentive is by removing our masks and returning to normal. Despite having reached the traditional level of herd immunity by our Members, our Chamber does not reflect a return to normal.

I implore leadership and the Attending Physician to follow science and the CDC guidelines, and permit Members who have been vaccinated or who have naturalized immunity to forgo wearing a mask while in the Chamber, and incentivize and show the public that a world beyond the pandemic exists.

Not another minute should go by where children as young as 9 years old commit suicide because they see no hope of a future beyond the pandemic. We cannot waste another second or another young life.

Let us remove our masks and show America that there can be a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source