TV reporter speaks out after being fired in Missouri for refusing to get COVID vaccine
Linda Simmons’ 14-year career on Missouri television station KY3 came to an abrupt end last week over her refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
The former reporter said Gray Television, which owns the Springfield station, did not accept her religious exemption. Employees with the company were required to receive their COVID-19 vaccination by Sept. 30.
“I value the freedom we all have to make our own informed decisions,” Simmons said on Facebook on Friday. “I’ve made a big decision and decided not to allow the company that owns KY3, Gray Television, to control my personal health choices. I did not comply with their vaccine mandate after my exemption request was denied.”
She defended her decision in a radio interview Monday with KSGF’s Nick Reed. In the interview, Simmons said she was notified in August about the vaccine requirement and sent in an exemption the same week.
Simmons described on the radio show the “sinking feeling” when she learned by email her exemption was denied. She said she is one of three employees at her station who were terminated over the corporate vaccine requirement.
“I truly believe God was showing me reasons that I didn’t need to get it,” Simmons said.
Requiring the vaccine or any type of medical treatment for employment is “wrong,” Simmons said. Among her reasons for refusing the vaccine were the use of fetal cells in their development.
Fetal cells were used in testing while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were being developed, and while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was produced.
Simmons did not place any blame on KY3 and said the vaccine policy was being enforced by Gray Television. The broadcasting company’s memo to employees came before a mandate by President Joe Biden for all United States employers with more than 100 workers to require vaccination for workers or for them to be tested weekly.
A memo sent to Gray TV staffers said the company’s executives had extensive discussions about a COVID-19 vaccination requirement, Next TV reported in August.
“These individuals UNANIMOUSLY concluded that the increasingly rapid spread of the coronavirus poses an unfair risk to fellow employees and their family members who are not eligible to get vaccinated,” the memo stated.
Simmons said she does not have doubts about the seriousness of COVID-19, but questions some health recommendations surrounding it.
When she previously had the coronavirus, she claims she got better quickly after taking several drugs, including ivermectin that was prescribed to her from a doctor. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned against the use of ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19.
Simmons said she does not know what is next for her and is unsure if she will stay in journalism.
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