Chautauqua County officials decided they’re not interested in addressing vaccine hesitancy.

During Wednesday’s county Legislature meeting, lawmakers voted 6-12 against a resolution that would have allowed the county Health Department to receive a $75,000 grant to address vaccine hesitancy, with the aim being to increase vaccination among children as well as other minority groups.

Voting against the resolution were Bob Bankoski, D-Dunkirk; John Davis, R-Frewsburg; Jay Gould, R-Ashville; Ken Lawton, R-Lakewood; John Penhollow, R-Stockton; Marty Proctor, R-Mina; Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia; Lisa Vanstrom, R-West Ellicott; Paul Whitford, D-Jamestown; David Wilfong, R-Jamestown; and Pierre Chagnon, R-Bemus Point.

The resolution had been backed by both the Human Services and Audit and Control committees, where Proctor, Gould and Wilfong had previously voted in favor of it.

In committee meetings, Christine Schuyler, director of the county’s Health and Human Services Department, said the grant would be used to promote all sorts of vaccines, including measles, mumps, HPV, COVID, pertussis and shingles, among others.

The resolution listed the Black/African-American community, but Schuyler said they would reach out to other community groups as well, including Hispanic, Amish, and the elderly.

Legislator Terry Niebel, R-Sheridan, voted in favor of the resolution because he felt there are a lot of vaccines that should be promoted. Still, he was not without concern. “I think it’s all right to educate people to the benefits of vaccines, but I think there’s a thin line between education and coercion and we need to be careful we don’t cross that line,” he said.

Bankoski didn’t like how the resolution targeted certain minorities. “This should be for all, not singling out certain groups,” he said.

Vanstrom expressed her concern that the resolution notes the goal of increasing vaccine for children. “These children have parents and guardians that are appointed to make these important decisions on their behalf. So when they cop out and use the word children, they’re really saying we’re going to target parents that haven’t complied with our programming or our mindset at this time,” she said.

Before the vote, six people from the public spoke out against receiving any kind of grants that had to do with vaccines or COVID.

The legislature did accept a $200,000 increase in grant funds from the state Department of Health for Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases. During committee meetings, Schuyler said those funds were to help address COVID.