Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: Dr. John Witcher has treated hundreds of COVID-19 patients over the past year.

He's unvaccinated and the leader of a small band of Mississippi doctors who are fighting against vaccine mandates, saying they feel "ostracized" and "shamed."
mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

Dr. Witcher: “They’re saying the solution to our COVID pandemic is everybody needs to get vaccinated. ... That’s shaming people like me who don’t want to be vaccinated. It’s ostracizing us. It’s not fair. We want to be treated with respect and dignity."
mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

Mississippi Against Mandates has erected billboards and is using social media to push its message, which includes anti-vaccine misinformation.

At least seven male physicians are part of the organization and appear on billboards.
mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

Dr. Witcher: “I personally don’t know the risk involved with the COVID vaccination. I know some of our leaders in the MSDH report that it’s super-duper safe, but I don’t necessarily believe that."

(MSDH is correct; the vaccine is overwhelmingly safe).
mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

Dr. Witcher says he can't reccomend the COVID-19 vaccine to his patients because he doesn't know the risks and "can't give them the risk."

If he read numerous studies and publicly available info, he would know serious side effects are extremely rare. mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

As of last month, Mississippi had reported just four mild cases of myocarditis linked to receiving COVID-19 vaccines and no deaths.

At least 9,331 Mississippians have died from COVID-19 so far, though. The state has the nation's No. 1 COVID-19 death rate.
mississippifreepress.org/15908/mississi…

Dr. Witcher: “I’m just a messenger. This is something that I feel called to do, I feel led to do, because I just can’t take any more of this fear mongering amongst Mississippians that just keep pushing that the COVID vaccination is the solution... ."
mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

Since January, when Mississippi vaccinations began in earnest, fully vaccinated Mississippians have accounted for:
-Less than 2% of all cases
-9% of COVID-19 hospitalizations
-7% of all COVID-19 deaths.
mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

At least 4,064 Mississippians have died since Jan. 1, only 280 of which were fully vaccinated, with the vast majority of those deaths occurring among people older than 50.

That death toll includes at least 15 pregnant women who died of COVID-19.
mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

Since the year began, 180 of the 181 Mississippians younger than 40 who died of COVID-19 were either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.

No fully vaccinated Mississippians younger than 25 have died of COVID-19.
mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

All five Mississippi children who have died of COVID-19 this year so far, including one baby, were unvaccinated.

Four of those child deaths occurred within the past two months.
mississippifreepress.org/15681/mississi…

COVID-19 has now killed more Mississippians than the Great Influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 (there was no vaccine for flu until decades afterward).

Medical technology has grown by leaps and bounds since, but Mississippi's population only grew by one-third.mississippifreepress.org/16073/covid-19…

Dr. Witcher called on health care workers to join him to “show Gov. Tate Reeves our support.”

“I appreciate you, Gov. Reeves, and your Bible studies that you were doing in the past. I believe you’re a man of God, I’m a man of God. I’m not ashamed of that."mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

Dr. Witcher: “I have my Bible with me and I live on the word of God. So I believe Gov. Reeves, I believe you want to do the right thing and your constituents want you to do the right thing, we believe in you and we’re backing you."mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

Dr. Witcher: “We want you to say no COVID vaccine mandates, certainly not in the hospitals. … A lot of us want to work, but we don’t want to be mandated to take a vaccine that we don’t know the risk of. That’s our plea."

(We know the risk: very low) mississippifreepress.org/16136/mississi…

The vast majority of doctors in Mississippi encourage Mississippians to get vaccinated for COVID-19. The State Board of Medical Licensure has warned that it can suspend or revoke the licenses of doctors who spread COVID-19 misinformation.
mississippifreepress.org/15744/state-me…

Please support our work providing vital information to the people of Mississippi & beyond with non-profit, paywall-free journalism by following us at @MSFreePress, and, if you can, by giving a one-time or recurring donation to mfp.ms/donate

P.S. Follow yours truly @ashtonpittman for more journalism like this.

And check out another recent story of mine on how the IHL Board of Trustees' decision to ban vaccine mandates on Mississippi colleges and universities went down:
mississippifreepress.org/16046/ihl-proh…