Tennessee Anti-Vaxxer Speeds Through Vaccination Tent, Almost Runs Over 7 Workers

A Tennessee woman was arrested and charged Thursday after she intentionally drove her vehicle through a COVID-19 vaccination site and almost ran over seven health workers.

The incident occurred Monday morning at a Blount County Health Department vaccination site in Foothills Mall. Virginia Brown, 35, of Greenback, was charged with seven counts of felony reckless endangerment for putting the lives of seven people in danger, the Blount County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Brown drove her SUV at a high speed through the enclosed vaccine tent. There were at least 15 people inside the tent at the time. She was heard yelling "no vaccine," apparently as a mark of protest against the ongoing nationwide vaccination drive, according to the statement. Deputies who were present at the scene said Brown exited the tent without stopping at a check-in area, narrowly missing the seven workers.

Authorities said Brown was arrested and was taken to the Blount County Correctional Facility. Each count of the felony charges she is facing attracts 1 to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. Brown was released from jail after posting a $21,000 bail bond, the statement said.

"While traveling to the jail, Ms. Brown made several statements about wanting to protest the vaccine," according to an arrest report, Daily Times reported. "Ms. Brown stated she was driving through the course and, once she got to the tent, she told the personnel there working she was not there for the vaccine."

As authorities are scrambling to ramp up vaccination, many major cities in the U.S. have witnessed demonstrations against the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. In some places, anti-vaxxers arrived in groups in sites where vaccines were being administered and discouraged people waiting in the queue from getting the doses, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared the vaccines safe and effective.