The GOP Shows Time and Time Again That They Are Against Life-Saving Vaccines if It Means They Can Score Political Points
Washington, DC – This week, Republicans like Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz vowed to shut down the government over vaccines rather than encourage and promote these life-saving measures against COVID-19. In response, Coronavirus War Room Director Nicole Haley said the following:
“Republicans are throwing a pathetic temper tantrum by threatening to shut down the government over vaccines. This is just the latest in the long line of the GOP’s attempts to sabotage America’s recovery from COVID-19. They’ve promoted conspiracy theories about the effectiveness of vaccines, and now they are pushing to shut down the government in an obvious political ploy. They want to harm the economy and put their own constituents’ lives at risk, prolonging the pandemic in order to score political points.”
REPUBLICANS ARE THE ANTI-VACCINE PARTY
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Spreads Vaccine Misinformation While The Omicron Variant Surged Across Florida. In his first press conference of 2022, Governor DeSantis said, “With Omicron, you know, the vaccinations are not preventing infection.” Doctors and scientists staunchly oppose this sentiment arguing that those inoculated and boosted against COVID-19 are best protected against severe sickness and hospitalization from the Omicron variant. He also nominated a conspiracy theorist who refused to say whether or not he was even vaccinated to serve as Florida’s surgeon general.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson Has Refused To Get Vaccinated And Continues To Spread Disinformation. Senator Johnson has become notorious over the course of the pandemic for making outrageous, misleading, and blatantly false claims about COVID-19, including suggesting people use mouthwash to kill the virus and refusing to get vaccinated. He even went so far as to accuse public health experts of withholding information about the ‘dangers’ of COVID-19 vaccines from the American people. When asked how many people have died after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson suggested the death count was in the thousands. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this data does not establish cause and effect between coronavirus vaccinations and reported deaths. A range of experts on immunology have confirmed Johnson is misusing the data and exaggerating the known risks of getting the shot. Johnson’s latest misinformation claim is that the COVID-19 vaccine has caused hundreds of “athletes dropping dead.” While this claim is cited on a website called Good Sciencing, it has been debunked multiple times.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul Refused To Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19. Rand Paul told a conservative radio host on WABC that he is not getting vaccinated because he has already had COVID-19 and has “natural immunity.” Paul said he won’t change his mind unless “they show me evidence that people who have already had the infection are dying in large numbers or being hospitalized or getting very sick.” Experts at the CDC and WHO have found that although recovered COVID-19 patients have some degree of immunity from the disease, we don’t know how long it lasts and people who have had the virus can still benefit from being vaccinated.
Indiana Sen. Mike Braun, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, and Texas Rep. Chip Roy Continue To Downplay Vaccination In Favor Of Natural Immunity. Braun, Lankford, and Roy have introduced the Natural Immunity Transparency Act, which would require the HHS Secretary to submit a report on COVID-19 natural immunity to Congress. Sen. Braun has repeatedly spread misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccine effectiveness, falsely claiming the “CDC released data that demonstrated natural immunity was 3-4 times as effective in preventing COVID-19 compared with vaccination.” The CDC has been clear on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, stating, “for people who already had COVID-19, those who do not get vaccinated after their recovery are more than 2 times as likely to get COVID-19 again than those who get fully vaccinated after their recovery…Getting a COVID-19 vaccination is also a safer way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19.”
Republican Governors Want To Roll Back Mandates That Protect The Most Vulnerable And Even Prevent Private Businesses From Protecting Their Employees And Customers With Vaccinations. Despite a ruling from the Supreme Court requiring the vaccination of health care workers, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is playing politics and has requested a waiver to exempt Virginia medical workers. This request comes despite the fact many Virginia hospitals had already required COVID-19 vaccination for their workers, which prevents infection, illness, and is the most effective tool at mitigating medical staffing shortages. Four systems serving Virginia’s Hampton Roads region required vaccination in October of 2021, and of the system’s 28,000 workers only 13 people had resigned, demonstrating the overwhelming success of the requirement. Texas governor, Greg Abbott signed an executive order in fall of 2021 banning any entity in the state, including private businesses, from requiring vaccination for their workers. Abbott’s call to codify the ban went over like a lead balloon in the Texas Legislature, failing to garner sufficient support after business groups were outraged. Business leaders across Texas have been ignoring the executive order, including large corporations such as Dell and IBM.