California state health director resigns after criticizing anti-vaccine activists on Facebook

[alp227]

Source: Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO — A top healthcare official in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration announced her departure Tuesday, with the timing of her resignation sparking questions about whether it was related to a Facebook post she shared criticizing vaccine bill protesters and calling them “flat-earthers.”

Jennifer Kent, director of the state Department of Health Care Services, announced in a letter to staff Tuesday that she was resigning from the post, which she has held since 2015. Newsom’s office declined to say why Kent stepped down, but her resignation follows a post she made Monday on her private Facebook page about vaccine bill opponents, a screenshot of which was obtained by the Los Angeles Times and others in the Capitol community.

“The Capitol is filled with a bunch of flat-earthers today,” Kent’s post said before referencing the large bear statute outside the governor’s office that is often jokingly referred to as “Bacteria Bear” because so many statehouse visitors touch it.

“My poor sweet Bacteria Bear is dripping with unvaccinated booger-eater germs,” Kent wrote before using two hashtags: "#believeinscience” and "#vaccinateyourgoddamnkids.”

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-10/california-health-director-resigns

[Grokenstein]

1. A little rough but hardly "resign" material

If Republicans applied the same standards, they wouldn't exist.

Still, when you're in the public eye on a heated topic--even if in a sane world, it wouldn't even be up for debate--you really have to mind your words. Those flat-earther antivax buffoons are easily triggered.

[James48]

2. I still don't understand it

But one of my friends from college entire families-a family who’s father was a doctor, are anti-vaxxers.

Now, this is a family that includes some very intelligent people, who attended good schools, and yet they turned out with this unusual anti-va x belief.

I am at a loss, but they aren’t flat-earthers.

[Snoopy 7]

8. followers at all cost

The anti-vax crowd is just like any crowd you want to follow get enough (side) information and wala you have what you want. Now just get aboard and ride the wave of self approval, but we have read numerous articles which rebut the anti-vax reasoning. And, we know it's reasoning and not scientific because where is their studies to prove them right(?) they only have what "they believe"...

[Lucky Luciano]

4. Anti-vaxxers deserve all the vitriol and more. I'm confused.

I saw an Anita-Vaxx group on Facebook and I alerted on its existence. I thought Facebook would remove the group because they were supposed to crack down on that idiocy...but they let the group stay. I don’t get it.

[perfessor]

5. Her comments were unfair to flat-earthers...

... whose ideas don't actually put anyone at risk. Unlike antivaxxers, who do.

[hlthe2b]

6. Just don't do social media, for gawd's sakes. Why can't these people learn

She's quite right about the anti-vaxxers, but you have to be "politic" in such roles.

[dalton99a]

11. +1. Good advice for anyone with a job nowadays

You never know

[tymorial]

7. She shouldn't have resigned

She should have double downed

[SunSeeker]

9. +1

[Major Nikon]

10. Possibly just bad timing

Once again California had to update their vaccination laws to reign in the anti-vax loons.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/10/politics/california-vaccine-bill-gavin-newsom/index.html

[Farmer-Rick]

12. My step daughter is an anti-vacciner.

She wanted to bring her 3 daughters ages 3, 7 and 12 to visit her mother who had shingles. None of them had chicken pox and she wanted their grandmother to infect them.

She refused to let them visit her. She didn't want them remembering her as the woman who got them all sick. Chicken pox can be very mild but sometimes it can be very awful.

PS get your shingles vaccine if you had chicken pox as a child. Shingle is the most common causes of pain-related suicide. It's that awful...people kill themselves because of the pain. Get your Shingles shot as soon as you can.