'Reckless and irresponsible': Tony Evers blasts Ron Johnson's plans to highlight adverse reactions to COVID vaccines

This story was republished on Jan. 14, 2022 to make it free for all readers

Wisconsin's governor blasted the state's senior senator Friday for giving a platform to six people who claim they've had adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines instead of promoting the millions who haven't reported serious side effects and avoided sickness and death.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson "reckless and irresponsible" after Johnson announced plans Friday to hold a news conference bringing together people who claim to have had serious health complications in reaction to the vaccine.

"The #COVID19 vaccine is safe and effective and based on years of science and research. Every time you suggest otherwise, you’re jeopardizing the health and safety of the people of our state and our economic recovery," Evers said in a tweet.

Johnson, who has also criticized vaccine mandates and advocated for alternative and unproven treatments for COVID-19, said the Monday event in Milwaukee will allow people from across the country to tell their stories and concerns he said have been “repeatedly ignored” by the medical community.

“We’re all supporters of vaccines. As I've repeatedly said, I'm glad that hundreds of millions of Americans have been vaccinated, but I don’t think authorities can ignore and censor some of the issues,” Johnson said in a tweet responding to Evers. “On Monday, we’ll bring light to stories that deserve to be seen, heard & believed.”

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Johnson, who has no medical training or expertise, hasn’t been vaccinated, saying he doesn’t think he has to because he had the virus last year and formed natural antibodies.

The Oshkosh Republican has said he’s “just asking questions” and isn’t against vaccines, but doctors and other critics have blasted him for spreading misinformation instead of promoting the vaccines that have caused infection rates to plummet, saving lives.

Dr. Jeff Huebner, a family doctor in Madison, said Johnson was “promoting dangerous and unfounded claims about COVID-19 vaccines” that contradict medical data and evidence.

“As a member of the Wisconsin medical community I’m gravely concerned about the impact his event and remarks will have on our ability to return to normal and protect Wisconsinites from COVID-19.,” Huebner said in a statement.

Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now are people who weren’t vaccinated, with “breakthrough” infections in fully vaccinated people accounting for fewer than 1,200 of the more than 853,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations in May, based on an Associated Press analysis.

More: U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said COVID vaccine distribution should have been limited 'to the vulnerable'

Johnson's Democratic counterpart, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, tweeted Friday encouraging Wisconsinites to get the vaccines, calling them "safe and effective at preventing sickness, severe illness, and death."

More: The Senate's oddest of 'odd couples': In Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson, Wisconsin has produced a historically divergent pairing

YouTube this month removed an interview Johnson did with the Milwaukee Press Club during which he touted the benefits of alternative treatments for COVID-19 and suspended Johnson for a week, saying his comments violated the company’s “medical misinformation policies.”

Johnson, during the June 3 event, criticized the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for “not only ignoring but working against robust research (on) the use of cheap, generic drugs to be repurposed for early treatment of COVID.”

PolitiFact Wisconsin: What Ron Johnson gets wrong about the COVID-19 vaccines

Johnson said Monday’s event at the federal courthouse in Milwaukee will include former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Ken Ruettgers, a member of the Packers Hall of Fame, and his wife, Sheryl. Johnson said Sheryl Ruettgers will detail “severe neurological reactions that still inhibit her ability to live a normal life, including muscle pain, numbness, weakness and paresthesia” that she experienced after getting the COVID-19 vaccine this month.

Other speakers with similar stories are from Ohio, Missouri, Utah, Michigan and Tennessee.

The Associated Press contributed.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers blasts Ron Johnson promoting adverse reactions to COVID vaccines