A California sheriff says he has no plans to enforce mandatory COVID-19 vaccine for employees of his department, declaring that the federal government has “no authority to mandate your health choices.”
“Over the past couple of weeks, the idea of forced vaccination has caused much concern across the entire country,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a statement released Monday. “I will not enforce the vaccine mandate on Sheriff’s Department employees.”
“The government has no ability and no authority to mandate your health choices,” he said. “As your sheriff, I have an obligation to guard your liberty and freedom.”
“The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will not be blackmailed, bullied or used as muscle against Riverside County residents in the enforcement of the governor’s order,” he added.
Bianco said he and his family recovered from COVID-19 last winter, ABC7 reported. And he added in his statement: ”I am certainly not anti-vaccine; I am anti-vaccine for me.”
“This is nothing but sensationalism trying to gain readership and further divide us as Americans.”
On Sept. 9, Biden “ordered sweeping new federal vaccine requirements for as many as 100 million Americans — private-sector employees as well as health care workers and federal contractors — in an all-out effort to curb the surging COVID-19 delta variant,” The Associated Press reported.
Biden fiercely criticized the tens of millions of Americans who have not yet been vaccinated.
“We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” he said. The unvaccinated minority “can cause a lot of damage, and they are.”
According to the White House, Biden’s strategy “will ensure that we are using every available tool to combat COVID-19 and save even more lives in the months ahead, while also keeping schools open and safe, and protecting our economy from lockdowns and damage.”
Biden said he is “frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated,” appearing to repeatedly blame them for increased transmission across the country.
“The unvaccinated overcrowd our hospitals; they are overrunning emergency rooms and intensive care units, leaving no room for someone with a heart attack or pancreatitis or cancer,” he said.
Shortly after Biden’s announcement, numerous Republican governors issued statements signaling that they would strongly oppose his attempts to mandate vaccines.
“My legal team is standing by ready to file our lawsuit the minute @joebiden files his unconstitutional rule. This gross example of federal intrusion will not stand,” Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota wrote on Twitter.
“Biden’s vaccine mandate is an assault on private businesses. I issued an Executive Order protecting Texans’ right to choose whether they get the COVID vaccine & added it to the special session agenda. Texas is already working to halt this power grab,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
“This is exactly the kind of big government overreach we have tried so hard to prevent in Arizona — now the Biden-Harris administration is hammering down on private businesses and individual freedoms in an unprecedented and dangerous way,” said Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.
“Rest assured, we will fight them to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian,” said Gov. Henry McMaster. “The American Dream has turned into a nightmare under President Biden and the radical Democrats.”