WASHINGTON  – On Thursday, The Federalist published an op-ed by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) regarding President Biden’s freedom-robbing mandate and the dire effects it already is having on the American workforce and our economy.

The full op-ed can be found here, and excerpts are below.

Like President Biden, who said in December 2020, “I don’t think it should be mandatory, I wouldn’t demand it be mandatory,” I was opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates from the start. Unlike President Biden, I haven’t flip-flopped.

In fact, my opposition to mandates is growing stronger with each new anecdote and piece of information that shows not only how futile they are but how devastating these self-inflicted harms will be. President Biden, his administration, corporate media, and social media are denying three realities:

1. The effectiveness of natural immunity and how medically unnecessary it is for the previously infected to get vaccinated.
2. The fact that fully vaccinated individuals are getting infected and transmitting COVID-19. Unfortunately, some are also becoming seriously ill, being hospitalized, and dying. This is not, as President Biden repeatedly insists, a pandemic solely of the unvaccinated.
3. Vaccine injuries, including death, are occurring at far higher numbers than health authorities want to admit.

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I have been inundated with testimonials from doctors, nurses, and other health-care workers asking for relief from the mandates and indicating they will not succumb to the pressure. New York’s experience will be replicated throughout America, and the negative impact on health care will be profound.

I have been in contact with Lt. Col. Theresa Long, an Army flight surgeon. Her affidavit, which was part of an amended filing in a lawsuit against the military regarding vaccine mandates and injuries in the military, was made public in late September and describes only a small portion of the alarming story she has to tell.

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The recent flight delays involving Southwest Airlines are another harbinger of mandate harm. Although Southwest’s CEO and pilot union officially deny that delays are being caused by a worker slowdown in reaction to vaccine mandates, individuals are confirming what most of us view as obvious.

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Unfortunately, we now know the vaccines do not preclude infection or transmission. As a result, we are forcing people to choose between their livelihoods and a freedom-robbing vaccination mandate with no rationale. We are only beginning to see the dire consequences of these ill-advised mandates.

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