As an owner of a small business, I have seen a dramatic dip in costumer presence over the last eighteen months due to Covid. We were seeing a rise again when the summer came, then rhetoric regarding the vaccines being mandatory began to trickle down through the Biden administration and eventually began to be discussed by the commonwealth. When that rhetoric began we started to see a decline. This effort to demand that our personal health decisions become a matter of public knowledge, and to require individuals to comply in order to enjoy every day life, is a horrible mistake. Our society thrives on diversity of individuals, including with regards to health. If these vaccines are mandated we will see many employees put out of work, many customers alienated or discouraged from supporting us, and businesses will scramble to recover from the loss of workers and the loss of revenue. All this will do is create vaccine free speakeasies where those who refuse to comply must come together because the very government meant to represent their rights to personal freedom in making health decisions has taken it upon themselves to determine our health as individuals. This effort to mandate vaccines will destroy our economy, and put Virginia’s small businesses and economic growth back for years. Please don’t do this, please consider the need to protect the most vulnerable of our state’s infrastructure- small businesses, the employees of small businesses, and the customers of small businesses. Thank you.