Weld County’s commissioners will continue to share information about COVID-19 on social media, reversing a decision made during a meeting in late November.
The decision to prohibit the county, including its health department, from posting information about COVID-19 and vaccines was “not at the direction of the entire board,” a spokeswoman for Weld County said in a statement Wednesday.
The decision “has led to valuable discussion internally about the importance of government sharing information with the public and, as always, allowing the public to make their own information decisions,” county spokeswoman Jennifer Finch said.
County commissioners previously said they would no longer approve Facebook posts about vaccination against the virus after three members of the public approached the board on Nov. 24, reprimanding the commissioners about posts on the Weld County Government Facebook page, which is also used by the Weld County health department.
One resident told county commissioners the vaccines were dangerous and causing children to have heart attacks, a claim that has been debunked by health experts. “There is blood on your hands for this, all of you,” Sonia Miller, a Greeley resident said. “You will not be held harmless by the public.”
Medical experts have proven the vaccine is the best way to prevent serious illness and death from COVID-19. While federal officials said there is a likely association between one type of coronavirus vaccine and a greater risk of a heart condition called myocarditis in adolescents and young adults, they said the benefits of vaccination continue to outweigh the risk.
In Weld County, 514 people have died due to the virus, according to the county’s website. As of Tuesday, 111 new COVID cases were reported and 235 people were currently hospitalized due to the virus in hospitals across the county.