Dear Shasta County,

This petition was started for two reasons.

1.) To show support for healthcare workers and those in education who have made the decision to get vaccinated for the health and well being of our community.

and

2.) To send a clear and unified message of disapproval regarding healthcare workers and those in education who refuse to get vaccinated to protect the health of our community.

Some teachers, and unbelievably, even some healthcare workers are putting their community's health at risk by refusing to get vaccinated. Not only are they refusing vaccines, but many of them also refuse to get tested to protect those around them. Many healthcare workers are using religious exemptions to get away with not vaccinating. In fact, out of all the Dignity Health hospitals, Mercy Medical Center Redding has the highest number of religious exemptions requests and Shasta Regional Medical Center is honoring exemptions without question.

When our community members see the most trusted members of our society, like teachers and healthcare workers, refusing to vaccinate or test, overuse religious exemptions to get out of vaccinating, and even spreading false information online, it sends a terrible message and it puts our hospitals, schools, and entire community in jeopardy.

Opportunistic anti vaccine individuals have taken advantage of this confusing situation and have been using it as a platform to spread harmful misinformation about the Covid19 vaccine. This only further perpetuates the fear and refusal of many in our community to get the life saving Covid19 vaccination.

If you want to counter the misinformation regarding Covid19 vaccinations, let the schools and hospitals know that you do not support the staff who refuse vaccines, and if you want to show support to the many healthcare workers and teachers who have selflessly put their lives at risk to care for our families and children in the middle of a global pandemic; please sign your name.

Let’s show everyone how many of us in Shasta County truly care about each other and our community.