Pick to lead SC Public Health gets thumbs down amid COVID vaccine backlash
Dr. Edward Simmer, Gov. Henry McMaster’s pick to lead the newly formed Department of Public Health, was voted down Thursday by the Senate Medical Affairs Committee amid a heated political environment over the COVID-19 vaccine.
The committee voted 12-5 against granting a favorable report to Simmer, mostly along party lines with state Sen. Tom Davis, of Beaufort County, as the lone Republican joining the four Democrats on the committee.
For the time being, Simmer’s nomination sits in the Medical Affairs Committee, but its Chairman Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, said he formally will report to the Senate that Simmer did not receive a favorable report.
In the audience, Simmer was supported by fellow members of McMaster’s cabinet. But others wearing anti-Simmer stickers also filled the seats for the continuation of Simmer’s confirmation hearing .
A vote by the entire Senate seems grim, if one takes place.
McMaster remained steadfast in support of Simmer’s nomination.
“I remain resolute in my support of Dr. Ed Simmer and am hopeful that the full Senate will see through the falsehoods and mistruths being spread about his service to our state and nation,” McMaster posted on X.
It remains unclear what would happen if Simmer is voted down by the full Senate.
Simmer left the State House grounds immediately after the vote and did not speak to reporters. The Department of Public Health later released a statement from its interim director.
“I want to thank the members of the Senate Medical Affairs committee and especially Chairman Verdin for providing me the opportunity to answer any and all questions about my nomination in an honorable and respectable format,” Simmer said. “I also appreciate the continued support of Gov. Henry McMaster for my leadership of the S.C. Department of Public Health.”
Simmer’s nomination was doomed in front of the committee as he was widely criticized among vocal conservative members. Simmer was often compared to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as a public health advisor to both President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden during the COVID pandemic.
Fauci was seen as an advocate for shutdowns, mask mandates and vaccine mandates, widely objected to in conservative circles.
“I talk to my constituents, they see you, they think Fauci,” said state Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, who also serves as the Senate Finance Committee chairman.
Much of Simmer’s hearing centered around the state’s COVID response and even more specifically over Simmer and DHEC’s encouragement for people to get the vaccine.
“I told Dr. Simmer early on that I thought that there would be great headwinds in addressing his nomination, and that would come down to the point of vaccine policy,” Verdin told reporters after the hearing. “Were there mandates, or was it just policy that was strongly offered or encouraged? There has not been an abatement of the concern of the general public, even though it’s in the rearview mirror.”
Davis, who served as a chief of staff to former Gov. Mark Sanford, gives deference to the governor when it comes to cabinet nominations. The governor is responsible for actions by cabinet members and held accountable by voters, Davis told the committee Thursday.
Davis also argued that consent was given to McMaster to appoint who he thinks is best when he was reelected.
“That’s the consent of the governed,” Davis said. “It isn’t what you might read on social media. It isn’t what you might receive through phone calls from constituents.”
Among those who opposed Simmer questioned the efforts by the former Department of Health and Environmental Control to encourage people to take the COVID vaccine with some believing the department was trying to coerce people into taking the vaccine.
Some pointed to initiatives such as offering a free beer for receiving the vaccine at an event in a brewery, offering free admission to state parks, or holding vaccine drives at fairs and festivals where people might be more willing to go along with the crowd as coercion.
“You and DHEC, under your leadership single-mindedly pursuing this goal of getting 70% of the population vaccinated and then informed consent was an afterthought at best,” said state Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson.
Democrats on the committee defended COVID vaccines, which were developed during Trump’s administration and distributed during the Biden administration.
“What I witnessed was when the vaccines came out, and I know they’re not perfect, I did not see the number of my fellow citizens stacked up in body bags,” state Sen. Ronnie Sabb, D-Williamsburg, said. “Doctor, I don’t believe that was by happenstance. I believe that actually the science that went into some of those vaccines absolutely, unequivocally and without a doubt saved lives.”
