Dr. Fauci went on television again accusing his political opponents of making an ideological statement by refusing to get the vaccine. The drumbeat continued over the weekend, with the media noting rising cases and hospitalizations in red states such as Missouri, Arkansas, and Alabama. The former leader of the infant-murder franchise Planned Parenthood, Dr. Leana Wen, suggested that life for the unvaccinated should be made very difficult, including mandatory bi-weekly testing. And the Biden administration plans to go door-to-door to hector eligible Americans into taking the jab.
Related: Fauci Slams Unvaccinated Americans: ‘Get Over This Political Statement’
Just to put a fine point on it, here is what the far-left Palmer Report told its nearly 400,000 Twitter followers:
Leana Wen is correct. Unvaccinated right wingers are a threat to national security, and the only thing they understand is consequences. Force them to get constantly tested. Lock them out of public places. Force them to stat home by default. They’ll whine, but they’ll cave.
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) July 11, 2021
The irony of people politicizing the virus, framing those choosing not to be vaccinated as ideologues, cannot be overstated. It is not remotely based in reality. According to CDC data, as of July 11, 88.7% of Americans over 65 have had at least one dose of vaccine, and 79% are fully vaccinated. This population is the most vulnerable to severe illness and death from COVID-19, and vaccine uptake is significant. These Americans were always the targets of focused protection, and they are participating.
They tell us that President Biden received over 80 million votes in the 2020 Election. The math reveals that means he earned 38.8% of All Americans over 18. Sometimes in our insanely politicized environment, we forget a significant number of Americans who don’t vote at all. Currently, nearly 70% of Americans over 18 have had at least one dose, and almost 60% are fully vaccinated. This is clearly in excess of the number that voted for the Democrat in the White House.
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The most comprehensive data set about vaccine uptake was collected in May by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That is the timeframe when vaccination rates began to decline. According to an analysis of that survey by CNN, the “vaccine-hesitant” group was not what the media would have you believe:
A look at the data reveals that the vaccine hesitant group, however, are not big Trump lovers. They’re actually likely not to be Republican. Instead, many of them are people who are detached from the political process and didn’t vote for either major candidate in 2020.
The most recent Kaiser poll helps illustrate that the vaccine hesitant group doesn’t really lean Republican. Just 20% of the group called themselves Republican with an additional 19% being independents who leaned Republican. The clear majority (61%) were not Republicans (41% said they were Democrats or Democratic leaning independents and 20% were either pure independents or undesignated).
The hesitant group includes the 20% who want to wait and see. Perhaps full FDA approval will convince them. The survey notes that people’s willingness to take the vaccine increases when people they know receive it. The article went on to report that non-voters made up 34% of the vaccine-hesitant group. Only 10% of registered voters said the same.
If you look at the racial demographics of vaccine uptake, Asian and White Americans have the larger percentage. Black and Hispanic Americans have lower rates as of July 11. Joe Biden received 87% of the black vote and beat Trump 2-1 among Hispanics:
The other fundamental problem with the entire analysis of vaccine uptake is quite simple and may explain why, of the 20% of Americans who indicated they were vaccine-resistant in the Kaiser poll, 55% were Republican or Republican-leaning and 21% are Democrat or Democrat-leaning. The pollsters never ask why people are hesitant and oftentimes there are legitimate reasons.
First, Republicans may be more inclined to listen to Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a doctor, and Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Both have had and recovered from COVID-19 and are not taking the vaccine at this time. Senator Paul has been reading the research on natural immunity, and Johnson has been taking the advice of his physician and having his immunity monitored. Neither has fallen ill again or reported having a positive test.
Related: If Biden’s Agents Come to My Door to Ask If I’ve Accepted the Vaccine, Here’s How I’ll Answer
The media and the health bureaucracy never discuss the research on natural immunity. To date, it is pretty encouraging and includes the development of specific immune cells in the bone marrow that indicate long-term immunity. More than 33 million Americans have had a positive COVID-19 test. There has never been a reasoned, detailed explanation as to why these Americans would need a vaccine.
There has been an assertion from Dr. Fauci that the vaccine produces “better” immunity, but data from Israel shows that the vaccine effectiveness fell to 64% with the Delta variant. The mRNA vaccine makers are asking permission to give a booster already. Yet, there are still no reports of large numbers of recovered patients becoming sick or testing positive. It is always framed as infections among the “unvaccinated.” The public health bureaucracy owes us some answers.
Dr. Fauci needs to stop making vaccinations political with his uninformed assertions that make his friends on CNN clap. Dr. Leana Wen is an authoritarian lunatic. Instead of politicizing and polarizing vaccinations, they need to answer some basic questions for Americans who follow the research and listen to various voices. The “do as we say” argument is not a persuasive one.
