Governor Lee: Vaccine cannot cure ‘selfishness’ when it comes to protecting others from COVID

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee calls just arrived COVID vaccines a shot of hope and a turning point in the pandemic.

“We can and we must turn the tide of COVID-19 in this state and I need every Tennessean to hear that message loud and clear,” the governor said during a press conference at Vanderbilt University to mark the arrival of virus vaccine that will be administered to staff at the school’s medical center.

A poll released just this week by Vanderbilt’s Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions says only 47 percent of Republicans consider coronavirus to be a large health problem.

With recorded virus cases and deaths at historic levels in just two months’ time in Tennessee, Lee said residents must take ownership of actions that placed lives in danger and realize taking chances without a mask will have deadly consequences.

“One thing that this vaccine will not solve, one thing it will not cure is selfishness or indifference to what’s happening to our neighbors around us,” Lee said.

(IMAGE: State of Tennessee / Office of the Governor)