‘We’re Going in the Wrong Direction’ with the COVID Pandemic
Biden administration, medical professionals struggle with vaccine reluctance
Whether they are policymakers at the White House in Washington DC, or medical professionals in Arkansas, Americans are struggling with their fellow Americans who are refusing to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus — and, as a result, are continuing to fuel the ongoing pandemic.
“We’re going in the wrong direction. If you look at the inflection of the curve of new cases and, as you said in the run-in to this interview, it is among the unvaccinated. And since we have 50 percent of the country that not fully vaccinated, that’s a problem,” Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as well as one of President Biden's top advisors on the pandemic, said in an on-air interview with CNN. “Particularly when you have a variant like Delta, which has this extraordinary characteristic of being able to spread very efficiently and very easily from person to person.
“And we know we have many, many, many vulnerable people in this country who are unvaccinated. And that’s the reason why, as I’ve said so many times, we have the tools to blunt that and make that and make that model wrong,” he added. “But if we don't vaccinate people, the model will predict that we're going to be in trouble as we continue to get more and more cases.”
It's rural Americans — those most likely to support former president Donald Trump and his Republican allies — who are refusing the vaccine, and it's due to misinformation, according to Dr Michael Bolding, a physician with the Washington Regional Medical Center's COVID unit in Fayetteville, Ark.
“And that is heartbreaking. I grew up in rural America. You know, I’m watching this kind of disparity between the unvaccinated and the increased mortality of our state and states similar to ours,” Dr Bolding said. “And I can’t scream it enough. These are my people and they’re dying and it’s tragic. And it is very much a case of misinformation.”
Misinformation — and downright disinformation — has been dispersed through multiple sources, particularly Facebook and right-wing television like Fox News, which is where rural and right-leaning Americans often turn for news and information.
“All I think about, Brian, when I see that clip where he says, 'I’m not a medical doctor, I’m not telling you what to do,' is where was this sort of thinking back when Fox was promoting hydroxychloroquine every 15 seconds?” asked CNN senior media correspondent Oliver Darcy in an on-air spot with host Brian Stelter, referring to a clip of Fox News primetime commentator Sean Hannity talking about vaccines. “We know that the vaccines are safe, effective, they were developed under the Trump administration, and yet you see this sort of, 'I’m not a medical doctor, I can’t recommend you actually get one, do your research.' You know, he’s not very enthusiastically promoting vaccines there.
“And I just wish that Fox would promote vaccines as much as they did these other miracle drugs under the Trump administration,” Darcy added.
Blaming Trump
Liz Claman, an on-air personality on the Fox Business Network, appeared on Howard Kurtz's Fox News program and appeared to deflect responsibility away from Fox News and place it more squarely on Trump's shoulders.
“And so, therefore, when you start to see that no matter what anybody says, whether it is individual governors, Kay Ivey of Alabama came out swinging, she was way stronger than arguably that voice of the Republican Party,” Claman said, referring to the Republican governor of Alabama who recently publicly blamed the unvaccinated for the lingering pandemic. “If all the polls are right, it’s Donald Trump who is the voice of conservatives and the voice of the Republican Party. He got the vaccine, albeit privately. He has said, ‘Go and get the vaccine.’ However, just a couple of days ago he came out and said [that] people aren’t getting the vaccine because they don’t trust the election results. He tied that into politics.
“So, you can understand why the The Hill just had a headline that I saw that said, 'Only Trump can fix this issue of people being too scared to get the vaccination,' because they do listen to him and he has not come out strongly enough and, in fact, kind of walked back some of this. Facebook, of course, is a huge problem.”
Claman, somewhat absurdly also tried to blame liberals for vaccine misinformation, calling out statements made by Robert F Kennedy Jr. However, RFK Jr is hardly a figure of any national or significant prominence.
Meanwhile, Dr Janette Nesheiwat, both a practicing physician and a medical contributor to Fox News, simply took the direct approach in appealing to the network's viewership.
“I have to be honest, it’s exhausting, you know. I saw 75 patients yesterday, the day before 65. So we’re working very hard to try to take care of our patients as best as we can in the community, but we ask that patients do their job. Be responsible, protect yourself,” Dr Nesheiwat said on-air “If for any reason you cannot be vaccinated — for example, if you’re allergic to any of the ingredients, then wear your mask because this is something that we can all combat and defeat together. We did it before, but then this Delta variant came around.
“But the fact that we have less than 50 percent of Americans vaccinated and maybe about a third of Americans who have natural immunity, it’s still not enough,” she added. “So we need to keep encouraging and educating on getting your vaccine and the importance of it, how it could protect you and your loved ones and your community.”
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