MADISON, Wis. — Today, state Representative Sara Rodriguez, Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Rachel Hughes, and OB/GYN Dr. Kristin Lyerly blasted Ron Johnson for prolonging the pandemic with his dangerous rhetoric discouraging Wisconsinites from getting vaccinated and pushing alternative and unproven treatments.
Watch the full event here or see what the speakers said, in part, below:
State Representative Sara Rodriguez: “As a state Representative, registered nurse, and former Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the CDC, I know about science and using science to make data-based decisions to keep our community safe through common-sense legislation. It is an absolute disgrace that Senator Ron Johnson and the Wisconsin GOP continue to place politics before people’s lives and livelihoods by undermining medical professionals, like we have on this panel today. Senator Ron Johnson owes every Wisconsin family an apology. It is his partisan opposition to Democrats’ recovery efforts that have prolonged this pandemic. We’ve lost too many Wisconsinites and lost too much time to this virus.”
Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Rachel Hughes: “There are people in hospitals across the state because they listened to Senator Johnson. I have had patients diagnosed with COVID who very much regret not getting vaccinated because they listened to his statements and other people like him; at that point it’s too late for them and it’s too late for their families. Sometimes it’s not because of COVID but because of some of the dangerous unproven treatments like Ivermectin that Ron Johnson pushes to take instead of the vaccine. He is wasting people’s lives by being a public health risk.”
OB/GYN Dr. Kristin Lyerly: “All the efforts that my fellow health care providers and I are taking to keep our communities safe are being undermined by people like Ron Johnson, who from the start of this pandemic, has only used his platform to prolong the COVID pandemic by spreading disinformation and fear. Nearly every day he is taking to radio, TV, and social media — wherever he can speak — to discourage people from getting vaccinated and to discourage people from protecting themselves and the people they love. Senator Johnson insists on playing malicious self-serving political games that are quite literally costing lives. It’s clear Senator Johnson doesn’t care about us and that his rhetoric is killing people.”
