NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee’s top health official said Friday that the state can still vaccinate some minors without parental consent, aiming to clear up contradictory claims from lawmakers who complained that the state’s former vaccine chief circulated information about the longstanding childhood vaccination policy before she was fired.
On Friday, Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, who fired Michelle Fiscus and temporarily paused outreach efforts for all childhood vaccines, dialed back claims by lawmakers that the state’s clinicians won’t follow the parental consent policy. That policy was established under a 1987 state Supreme Court case applicable across public and private health providers. Piercey said it remains in effect, but is used only in “very nuanced and fringe situations.”
Piercey’s redirect came two days after Republican Sen. Kerry Roberts and his co-chairman on the Government Operations Committee, GOP Rep. John Ragan, announced during a legislative meeting that “Dr. Piercey and the governor’s office confirmed that it is not the policy of Tennessee Department of Health, Tennessee Department of Education, or our 89 county health departments to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to children without parental consent.” They didn’t say the six, larger independent county health departments or private providers would be held to the change.
The policy, named the Mature Minor Doctrine, has been a focal point in the ouster of Fiscus, who argued that she was let go to appease lawmakers opposed to vaccination outreach work on the COVID-19 shot for eligible minors.
In her first public comments since Fiscus was fired, Piercey wouldn’t discuss the termination, other than to make a statement similar to what Gov. Bill Lee said the day before – that her job is to ensure that the department’s people and policies conform to “his vision and in our belief about the appropriate role of government.”