Cape County health board addresses vaccine concerns

The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center Board of Trustees appeared simple enough. Review minutes, hear routine reports and review the center’s monthly revenue and expenses.

But a standing-room-only crowd of about 50 people, many of them carrying protest signs, had another agenda item in mind. They wanted to tell the board they objected to rumors of a “Biden strike force” coming to the county to “force” residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The turnout was so large the meeting had to be moved from the health center to a larger room at the nearby Shawnee Park Center.

Upon calling the meeting to order, board chairman John Freeze tried to head off any concerns anyone had about a rumored door-to-door vaccination campaign.

“I want to assure you that will not be happening in Cape Girardeau County,” he said. “We’re not going to be doing that, so that should be off the table.”

Freeze went on to say the board has “no plans whatsoever” to issue a mask order similar to the one that went into effect this week in St. Louis, St. Louis County and other parts of the nation that are experiencing increases in coronavirus cases.

Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center board chairman John Freeze, center, opens the board’s meeting Tuesday at Shawnee Park Center in Cape Girardeau. Freeze began the meeting by announcing door-to-door visits promovting COVID-19 vaccinations will not happen in Cape Girardeau County, the board has no plans to issue a mask order and they will not take public comment until their meeting in August.Sarah Yenesel ~ Southeast Missourian

“The original mask order said it would be dropped whenever effective vaccines were available,” he said. “We have very effective vaccines now, so there is no need for a mask order anymore, so that’s not going to be happening.”

Finally, the board chairman said there was “concern about us moving the meeting to accommodate the crowd,” which some in attendance said was a violation of the state’s Sunshine Law.

Board member and attorney Diane Howard addressed that issue.

“The Sunshine Law requires that public meetings be held in a facility that’s adequate to accommodate the public,” she said.

Howard explained it would have been a violation of the Sunshine Law to hold a meeting in a place where we can’t have the public come in, “so the decision was made that we needed to move and we thank the city for getting us into the Shawnee Center quickly. I know it’s standing room only, but it’s better than it would have been had we not moved.”

For the next 20 minutes, the board took care of routine business and received copies of a draft document outlining guidelines for accepting public comments at future meetings. Board members agreed to vote on the document at their next meeting scheduled for Aug. 24.

Rita LaVanchy gives board members a copy of her emails that she sent to certain board members about her concerns, and she later expressed her thoughts on their responses during a Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center board meeting Tuesday at Shawnee Park Center in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel ~ Southeast Missourian

A ‘right to be heard’

For most of the meeting, the overflow audience listened quietly, but as board members prepared to adjourn, one person stood and began reading from the Missouri Constitution and claimed the health board was denying her the right to be heard.

“You do not have the right to silence us,” she said. “We have a right to speak and address our grievances.”

Others applauded and echoed her remarks. For the next 15 minutes, several protesters accused the health board of ignoring what they said were “proven” treatments for COVID-19. Some accused the board of closing businesses and forcing people to wear face masks during the height of the pandemic.

One member of the audience, Dr. Carol Meza, said she wanted to “get (the board) on record that you would deny the Biden strike force from operating in Cape Girardeau County” even though the board chairman made such a statement after calling the meeting to order.

Board member Georganne Syler said she objected to the term “Biden strike force” adding “our county health center does not intend in any way, to my knowledge, to support or recommend a door-to-door visit encouraging people to get the vaccine.”

Rita LaVanchy, gave the board a petition against door-to-door vaccine promotion she said was signed by more than 350 people.

Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center board member Eric Becking, newly elected this year, speaks during the board’s meeting Tuesday at Shawnee Park Center in Cape Girardeau. “We are not the enemy,” he said in response to various commenters from the audience.Sarah Yenesel ~ Southeast Missourian

Other audience members complained masks were bad for their children’s health and at least one person accused the board of making a profit because of the pandemic.

Dr. Eric Becking, the newest member of the health board, attempted to ease concerns by reminding audience members “we are not the enemy.”

Becking told the crowd the pandemic “is unchartered territory,” adding, “I want us to have a chance to work through this.”