An Arkansas woman says she was fired from her job at a marijuana dispensary after she declined to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
“They actually did it — they really fired me — I didn’t think it was really going to happen,” Samantha Wise told KARK after she was terminated from her job at the Harvest Cannabis Dispensary Conway, Arkansas. “I am always that 1 out of every 10 or so that has a bad reaction. I am that one — so, I would just rather not.”
The mother of five said that her past history with medications contributed to her reluctance to be vaccinated against COVID-19. After she told her employer that she wouldn’t be taking the vaccine, she was asked to return her badge and key.
All employees at the store are required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. In Arkansas, only medical marijuana is legal, and the store’s “high risk” clientele contributed to the decision to make the vaccine mandatory.
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“Harvest’s employees encounter upwards of 500 patients per day, often serving them in a one-on-one encounter,” Executive Director Robbin Rahman said in a statement. “In other words, absent a targeted program, a medical marijuana dispensary like Harvest would pose a serious threat to the very people it is designed to help.”
Harvest Cannabis Dispensary had not responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment at the time of publication.
While the dispensary wouldn’t provide the details of Wise’s termination, it said that there were “a number of factors” that went into her firing. Harvest said it did implement a policy that allowed employees who declined to be vaccinated on medical or religious grounds to remain employed, but the company did not explain why Wise wasn’t accommodated under this exemption.
All COVID-19 vaccines that were granted emergency use authorizations have been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration for both safety and effectiveness. The FDA continues to monitor the approved coronavirus vaccines for safety.
The FDA recommended a pause in administrating the Johnson & Johnson-Janssen vaccine after 15 out of around 7.5 million patients given the vaccine developed a rare clotting disorder. After a safety review, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted the recommendation, writing in their announcement that the chance of the clotting disorder occurring is “very low” and the vaccine is “safe and effective.”
Two hundred million people in the United States have received at least one dose of one of the three approved vaccines, although public health officials say high levels of vaccine hesitancy will be a roadblock to returning back to pre-pandemic life.
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Under the EUA provision of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 2004, every person receiving a vaccine must be informed “of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product, of the consequences, if any, of refusing administration of the product.”
This provision has not yet been interpreted by the courts, and legal experts are split on whether mandating a vaccine that has been granted an EUA is legal.
