COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Hospital officials in Cobb County say a surgical tech is “no longer an employee” after she posted a video comparing the hospital’s vaccine mandate to the Holocaust.
Jessica Renzi was a surgical technologist with the Wellstar Healthcare System, according to her social media accounts, which she has since deleted.
Renzi posted a video to TikTok in which she showed off a hand-drawn “tattoo” with her vaccine lot number. The fake tattoo is reminiscent of tattoos given to prisoners at concentration camps during the Holocaust. The “numbers” actually spell out a vulgar phrase.
Wellstar released this statement:
“Jessica Renzi is no longer an employee of Wellstar Health System. At Wellstar, we stand strongly against anti-Semitism as well as comments or behavior of any kind that do not serve our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We are dedicated to fostering an environment where all team members treat others with compassion and respect. Wellstar remains steadfast in our mission to enhance the health and wellbeing of every person we serve.”
The Anti-Defamation League released this statement:
“The use of Nazi and Holocaust analogies is deeply offensive, even traumatizing, especially to the families of those who perished and lost loved ones in World War II. For Jewish families, Holocaust analogies trigger fear around one of the darkest, most antisemitic times in recent history, and these present day analogies come at a time of heightened antisemitism in the US felt very clearly by American Jews. Especially as the world deals with fear around the fragility of the pandemic, invoking Holocaust analogies only functions to further distrust and anxiety, not bring us together forward.”
