Massie leads ‘Freedom Rally’ that includes man who says his wife, a UK hospital worker, will quit her job rather than get a shot
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, left, and state Rep. Josh Calloway spoke at the rally. (Courier Journal photo by Scott Utterback)
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Opponents of restrictions to fight the coronavirus pandemic, led by Fourth District U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, rallied at the state Capitol Saturday. The “Freedom Rally” crowd included one man who said his wife, a nurse, is refusing her employer’s requirement to get vaccinated and they may leave the state as a result.
“I want to get the masks off the kids,” Joseph Mattingly of Lebanon told Munashe Kwangwari of Louisville’s WLKY-TV.
Mattingly said his wife works at the University of Kentucky hospital, one of many that recently said employees would have to be vaccinated against the virus. “She’s gonna be forced out with these mandates, but she’s not going to take the shot. There’s no reason she should have to take the shot. . . . If we have to, we’ll move out of the state. I don’t want to move. That’s why we’re here. We’re willing to fight.”
Andy Beshear, a Democrat, is seeking re-election in 2023, and one Republican, state Auditor Mike Harmon, has already declared for the nomination to face him. The auditor joined other officials in criticizing pandemic restrictions, Watkins reports: “Harmon specifically criticized so-called ‘vaccine passports,’ a buzzword that basically references some form of verification that a person has gotten vaccinated against Covid-19 and potentially might be required to work or enter restaurants in some places.”