The nation’s top infectious disease expert warned Sunday that a new wave of COVID-19 infections could be on the way while urging former President Trump to tell his supporters to be vaccinated.
Speaking with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,” Anthony Fauci pointed to surges across the European Union and warned that Europe’s case trends tend to be a few weeks ahead of similar trends in the U.S.
Europe “always seem to be a few weeks ahead of us,” Fauci said, adding that it was “absolutely no time to declare victory” over the virus.
“They thought they were home free, and they weren’t, and now they are seeing cases going up,” he said of European health officials.
Asked by Wallace what could be done to combat vaccine skepticism in the U.S., particularly among Republicans, Fauci urged Trump to tell his supporters to get vaccinated.
“It would be very helpful for the effort for that to happen. I’m very surprised by the number of Republicans who say they won’t get vaccinated,” he said.
“I think it would make all the difference in the world” if Trump were to express support for vaccines, Fauci said. “He’s a widely popular person among Republicans.”
“I just don’t get it, Chris, why they don’t want to get vaccinated,” he added.
During a separate appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Fauci said it’s “disturbing” that Trump voters are choosing to not get vaccinated.
“We’ve got to dissociate political persuasion from commonsense, no-brainer public health things,” he said.
“[Vaccines have] rescued us from smallpox, from polio, from measles,” he added. “What is the problem here?”
……..
- Discussion
-
Fauci warns of another COVID-19 surge, urges Trump to tell supporters to be vaccinated https://t.co/3bxOu6X2de pic.twitter.com/zkiXroUwCx
— The Hill (@thehill) March 14, 2021
Dr. Fauci is talking about Trump and his cult as if they were rational individuals. I don’t believe Trump wanted it to get out that he and his wife were vaccinated. He believes in perpetuating lies and conspiracy theories. His followers either believe the vaccines inoculate us with microchips so the government can spy on or track us, or they believe the vaccines are simply unproven and/or contain substances that could harm us years from now.
My brother, who believes the latter, says the Pfizer and Moderna shots have mRNA in them which is experimental. He said he might go for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine when it becomes available as J&J’s vaccine is made with DNA. But I’m going to bet he won’t get either type.
Then there is a friend of mine — not a Trumpy — who is putting off vaccination because she doesn’t believe COVID is as bad cancer. No, I don’t get that either.
What these anti-vaxers don’t get is that eventually, it’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to go places and do things they want to do without getting the shots. Travel, for example. Already I know of two cruise lines which will not carry passengers who cannot furnish proof of vaccination (this policy will start later this summer). Eventually, I expect other commercial carriers — planes, trains, buses, etc. — will do something similar. My brother and SIL like to travel overseas. His wife has been vaccinated, but my brother may find that if he isn’t vaccinated. some countries won’t let him in.
But I don’t know if any of that matters to the anti-vaxers. I told my friend she won’t see me till she is vaccinated and I plan to tell my brother the same when he invites me for Easter dinner. It’s been a long time since I saw any of them. But I doubt they really care.
I don’t expect Trump to do or say anything to persuade his cult, and I expect that even if he did, they probably won’t get the shots anyway. There is really nothing one can do to change these people’s minds.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.