Michelle Fiscus

Courtesy of the Tennessee Department of Health

The State of Tennessee has fired the health department’s top vaccine official, Michelle Fiscus, after a group of Republican legislators expressed qualms about encouraging teens to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Fiscus, medical director for vaccine preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, says her termination — which was first reported by The Tennessean Monday afternoon — came among mounting pressure from state legislators who threatened to dissolve the health department over its efforts to encourage vaccinations among eligible minors.