National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that it was “horrifying” to see an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) cheer a low vaccination rate.
Fauci said, “We’ve got to put aside this ideological difference or differences thinking that somebody is forcing you to do something. The public health officials, like myself and my colleagues, are asking you to do something that will ultimately save your life and that of your family and that of the community. I don’t know. I really don’t have a good explanation, Jake, about why this is happening. I mean, it’s ideological rigidity, I think. There’s no reason not to get vaccinated. Why are we having red states and places in the South that are very highly ideological in one way, not wanting to get vaccinations? Vaccinations have nothing to do with politics. It’s a public health issue. It doesn’t matter who you are. The virus doesn’t know whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent. For sure, we know that. And yet there is that divide of people wanting to get vaccinated.”
In a video, Alex Berenson said to a cheering crowd, “The government was hoping that they could sort of sucker 90 percent of the population into getting vaccinated, and it isn’t happening.”
When asked for his reaction, Fauci said, “It’s horrifying. I mean, they are cheering about someone saying that it’s a good thing for people not to try and save their lives. I mean, if you just unpack that for a second, Jake, it’s almost frightening to say, ‘Hey, guess what. We don’t want you to do something to save your life.’ Yeah, everybody starts screaming and clapping. I just don’t get that. I mean, and I don’t think that anybody who is thinking clearly can get that. What is that all about? I don’t understand that, Jake.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN.
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