MRNA vaccines might not be available to people in Idaho in the future.
Two of the state's lawmakers recently introduced a bill that could potentially ban mRNA vaccines in the future should it pass legislation.
The bill is scheduled to be the topic of discussion before the House Health and Welfare Committee within the week, per Fox News.
House Bill No. 154 Details
A pharmacist holds up a vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, Bivalent, at AltaMed Medical clinic in Los Angeles, California, on October 6, 2022. Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is an example of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
Idaho State Senator Tammy Nicols and State Representative Judy Boyle, both of whom are Republicans, recently filed a bill through the House Health & Welfare Committee that could ban the administration of MRNA vaccines in the state, per Forbes.
The bill, titled House Bill 154 for the time being, mentions that it wishes to amend Chapter 9 Title 19 of Idaho's code through the addition of a new section that would count the administration of an MRNA vaccine to an individual or any other mammal in the state as a misdemeanor.
Simply put, mRNA vaccines would be unavailable to people and mammals, such as bighorn sheep. As such, vaccines that could prevent people and mammals from catching a disease or viruses like COVID-19 would have to rely on other vaccine types to boost and strengthen their immune systems to resist and even become immune to them.
Nichols defended the bill to the committee, with her claiming that Idaho is becoming increasingly concerned about mRNA vaccines due to these issues allegedly being fast-tracked by the vaccines, with the companies making them have no liability, not providing access to their data, risk-benefit analysis not being done, and no informed consent.
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The concerns the senator alludes to are the blood clots and heart issues people experience when they get an mRNA vaccine shot during the COVID-19 vaccination drive that continues to this day.
Sen. Nichols believes that a mountain of information continues to be discovered "with concerns of blood clots and heart issues, and the correlation versus causation needs to be addressed."
Meanwhile, the CDC mentions on its website that reports of heart conditions following the administration of an mRNA vaccine are rare, and it has determined that the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis after the receipt of such a vaccine.
To date, there are two COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in circulation for administration to people: Pfizer-BioNTech's and Moderna's, per MayoClinic.
Additionally, the medical community also uses mRNA vaccines to prevent diseases and viruses such as Influenza, Zika, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV,) per Nature.com and KTVB.
Public Reception To The Bill
A bill that would prevent people and mammals from accessing mRNA vaccines that could help combat COVID-19 and other viruses and diseases wouldn't be initially widely accepted.
Sen. Nichols' announcement on Twitter received heavy backlash from those who read it regardless of whether they were from Idaho or not.
Many called out the bill for being "needless" and "stupid," while others are calling the lawmaker "willfully ignorant."
Interestingly, Idaho is noted to have the sixth lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates among the US' states and territories, with 56% of the state's population being fully vaccinated, per the New York Times.
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