Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) scolded the unvaccinated this week, wholly dismissing their concerns while accusing them of “willfully” putting others at risk and demanding they suck it up and “get the damn vaccine.”
“I don’t care what misinformation or conspiracy theories that you have heard. The plain and simple fact is that these vaccines are working,” Hogan said, informing the unvaccinated that the majority of those who are hospitalized because of the Chinese coronavirus in Maryland are unvaccinated.
“Those of you who refuse to get vaccinated at this point are willfully and unnecessarily putting yourself and others at risk of hospitalization and death,” he scolded, accusing them of threatening freedoms.
“You are the ones threatening the freedoms of all the rest of us — the freedom not to wear masks, to keep our businesses open, and to get our kids back in school,” he said.
“And tragically, it may be only a matter of time until you do get COVID-19,” he warned.
“We do not want any Marylanders or any more Americans to become one of these preventable stories, so please just get the damn vaccine,” he added:
Hogan’s remarks coincide with actions taken by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), who proudly proclaimed that the time for voluntarily getting a vaccine is “over.”
This week, he announced the Key to NYC Pass, which requires private businesses — indoor restaurants, gyms, and entertainment venues — to discriminate against the unvaccinated, denying them entry to the establishments.
“Make no mistake. What we have put in place related to indoor dining, indoor entertainment, indoor fitness is the shape of things to come, and you’re going to see more and more companies do the same thing,” de Blasio said.
“[The voluntary phase] went on for seven full months, lots of incentives, lots of dialogue, lots of communication, lots of opportunities to talk to your doctor or pediatrician. The voluntary phase is over,” he added.
Nearly half of those who have yet to receive the jab attribute it to concerns about vaccine development and worries about both short-term and long-term side effects, the latter of which remain largely unknown.