December 14, 2021 03:48 PM UTC

Weld County Censors Lifesaving COVID Advice

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• by: Colorado Pols

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: 9NEWS’ Marc Sallinger documents a rare backpedal from arch-conservative Weld County Commissioners:

Commissioner Scott James told 9NEWS that Weld County will continue posting information about vaccines on social media, reversing a stance the commission took during a Nov. 24 meeting.

“I had made a comment in a public meeting about how I was not going to approve any more Facebook posts. I was caught up in the moment about that particular Facebook post,” said James. “It’s not within my purview to change the policies of the board of county commissioners in that manner.”

Many thanks to NoCo Optimist for publicizing this incident, without which it’s very likely there would have been no “walking back” of anything. We are a litttle curious to know who it was who tapped Scott James’ shoulder and explained that he had just earned Weld County more bad press than simply sitting and allowing a few crazies to spout off would have hurt them. We assume it wasn’t fellow commissioner and noted COVIDiot Lori Saine.

Take the small wins for common sense whenever they happen we guess.

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Via the Colorado Sun, another troubling example of how information that could save lives gets pre-empted from public distribution by Republican politicians overriding their local health departments. Sometimes, like in Douglas County, this causes a massive conflict that results in the firing on the health department and bad headlines for all concerned.

And sometimes, like up in the longstanding hotbed of COVID resistance of Weld County, it goes very differently:

Weld County’s commissioners will no longer publish information about COVID-19 on social media following pushback on posts made to encourage residents to get vaccinated against the disease.

Three members of the public approached the board on Nov. 24, reprimanding the commissioners for posts on the Weld County Government Facebook page – a page also used by the Weld County health department – regarding vaccines.

“I am sick of these Facebook posts that the Weld County Government page is putting on Facebook advertising this vaccine, this gene therapy, to our children,” [Pols emphasis] said Sonia Miller, a Greeley resident. “This is toxic. This is poisonous.”

As soon as these concerned citizens referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as “gene therapy,” most well-adjusted individuals in possession of a basic education would know this is not an opinion that public servants should take seriously, let alone base a decision on.

But this is Weld County, after all:

Commissioner Scott James said he was the one who approved the Facebook post and that he was wrong to do so.

“I will ensure a post that involves a COVID vaccine will not get my approval,” James said. [Pols emphasis]

All we can say is, that’s a remarkable statement to commit to the public record.

Back in May of 2020, readers will recall, Weld County lost their health department director after he disagreed with the all-GOP county commissioners about reopening nonessential businesses in defiance of the state of emergency. As we now know, the health department’s social media posts are subject to the approval of elected officials. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage unchecked in Weld County–with 46 of the county’s 500+ deaths from the disease having occurred within the last month.

In beet-red Weld County, bad judgment was already in power. It took a pandemic to make it deadly.