Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Monday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that the unvaccinated need to stop being “selfish” and get the vaccination.
Mitchell said, “I want to ask you about mandating vaccinations because that’s happened in New York City, and we’re seeing protests today in Brooklyn, city workers perhaps including police and fire because their unions are opposing it, opposing the mandate. The commissioners are in favor. You’ve got a big protest right now that we can see. You can see it on the screens in New York City of workers in Brooklyn against the New York City mandate. We know that mandates work, but let’s talk about the equity and about the labor opposition to it from Joe Biden, who says he’s a labor president.”
Becerra said, “Andrea, we have to be safe. I saw Mayor De Blasio last week, and I will tell you that the city is going to do— the city doesn’t want to go back, New York City doesn’t want to go back to what it experienced a year, two years ago when it had essentially shut down. It really affected everyone. You need to be safe. It’s not just vaccination. It’s making sure you’re testing, you’re doing the hygiene, and right now, requiring workers to be vaccinated is something you’re seeing by the public sector and the private sector. We need to get out of this pandemic, and everyone has to be part of that. If you want to do stuff in public if you want to do stuff with others, you got to be part of the team, and part of the team means you have to be safe and let others be safe around you. You can’t just be selfish.”
He continued, “Responsibility, personal responsibility. Andrea, it’s personal responsibility. You have to take personal responsibility and make sure you’re safe, but that those who are around you will be safe. How else do we get out of this pandemic? It’s not brain science. It’s just simple review of the evidence. We’ve seen how we can save lives.”
Becerra added, “We know what it takes to prevent people from getting so ill they have to go to the hospital. We know what it looks like if we don’t do those things. Let’s be safe. Let’s be responsible. let’s protect each other.”
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