Nation Thousands of texts, then silence. How GOP pressure halted COVID-19 outreach to teens in Tennessee. September 8, 2021 Brett Kelman, Nashville Tennessean Comments Off on Thousands of texts, then silence. How GOP pressure halted COVID-19 outreach to teens in Tennessee. Tennessee texted 32,000 families to encourage COVID vaccines for teens in June. After a month, it had halted all advocacy for all adolescent vaccines.