ESPN’s Allison Williams explains why she’s giving up her job over a vaccine mandate

Enlarge this image

ESPN reporter Allison Williams reports from a college basketball tournament at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on March 8, 2017. Williams said in an Instagram video that she is leaving ESPN due to the company’s vaccine mandate.

Lance King/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Lance King/Getty Images

The Coronavirus Crisis
Are You Pregnant? The CDC Really Wants You To Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19

«Taking the vaccine at this time is not in my interest,» she wrote.

The CDC has urged people who are pregnant or might become pregnant to get vaccinated, saying there is currently no evidence showing COVID-19 vaccines cause fertility problems or data pointing to an increased risk for miscarriage among people who received an mRNA vaccine during pregnancy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Allison Williams (@allisonw_espn)

In the Instagram video, Williams spoke of her medical apprehensions about receiving the vaccine and added, «I am also so morally and ethically not aligned with this.»

«Ultimately, I cannot put a paycheck over principle, and I will not sacrifice something that I believe and hold so strongly to maintain a career,» she said in the video. «I’m going to pray things get better and that I can see you on the television set in some capacity in some stadium, covering some game soon.»

The Coronavirus Crisis
Faced with losing their jobs, even the most hesitant are getting vaccinated

Williams, who had reported for ESPN since 2011, acknowledged she’s not the only one walking away from a career or a profession they love.

Hundreds of hospital workers have quit rather than get vaccinated, but they represent only a tiny fraction of employees overall. For example, Duke Health in North Carolina reported it had fired just 20 people out of a workforce of 23,000.

Meanwhile, United Airlines said it is terminating a couple hundred of its 67,000 employees who did not comply with the airline’s vaccine mandate. Other employers that have imposed vaccine mandates are also reporting compliance rates topping 90%.