Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the House Select on the Coronavirus Crisis Subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington, USA, April 15, 2021.
Amr Alfiky | Reuters
White House chief medical officer Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday it was “disturbing” that some Americans would not get a Covid-19 vaccine for political reasons.
Fauci said those who refuse to get vaccinated against the virus are the same ones who say the US government is “invading our freedoms” by asking Americans to wear masks and implement other pandemic security measures. He said the “easiest” way out of the pandemic was to get a vaccine.
“It’s almost paradoxical that they don’t want to get vaccinated,” Fauci said in an interview with CBS This Morning. “It simply came to our notice then. We cannot be pejorative for them. We need to try to convince them why it is so important to get where they want and where I want to be and where all public health officials want to be, it would be to get vaccinated. “
Fauci’s comments come when President Joe Biden’s deadline has come for states to extend their vaccine eligibility requirements. Biden called on states to open appointments for all US adults by Monday.
Even with the opening of vaccine eligibility, polls suggest that a significant portion of Americans will refuse to fire, which could block the nation’s recovery from the pandemic that killed at least 567,233 Americans in just over a year.
About 28 percent of Republicans said they would certainly not get a Covid-19, and 18 percent said they would “wait and see” before getting shot, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. published in late February.
Anthony D. Dell’Aera, an assistant professor of political science at Worcester State University, told CNBC in a recent interview that these Republicans, many of them supporters of former President Donald Trump, are often distrustful of the government and, through therefore, they will probably refuse vaccines.
He said researchers saw similar vaccine resistance among Republicans during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic.
“Republicans, and especially Trump supporters, are most likely to have less confidence in the government and the momentum of vaccination,” he said, adding that vaccine resistance goes “beyond” Trump himself. Trump simply “got into this distrust of the government, and I think Trump helped get that perspective more outdoors,” he added.
Fauci said the United States had deployed thousands of clerics, athletes and other respected members of local communities to persuade people to get vaccinated.
“Indeed, there will be a complete press to attract people [vaccinated,] no matter who I am, “he said.