House Hears How COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Changed Peoples Lives

Syringes and vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be administered at a drive-up vaccination site in Reno, Nev., on Dec. 17, 2020. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

On Thursday, lawmakers in the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic heard from proponents and opponents of the COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including a fired sports reporter and one of the civil rights attorneys who successfully challenged the U.S. military’s vaccine mandate program.

At the opening of the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) said he had been optimistic that the vaccines could help the people of the United States return to a semblance of normalcy after the widespread lockdowns and mask mandates throughout 2020. But, Dr. Wenstrup, a medical doctor and officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, said, “The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine will be forever tarnished by the Biden Administration’s decision to remove the doctor from the patient-doctor relationship and force COVID vaccines upon everyday Americans, the armed forces, and the federal workforce.”