In these challenging times, sometimes it’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry: One in five Republicans would decline to get vaccinated for the novel coronavirus.
Some Republicans in the U.S. may not be lining up to receive a vaccine for the coronavirus when it becomes available, according to polling data released Tuesday by Morning Consult.
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Republicans are almost three times as likely to refuse vaccination for coronavirus as Democrats. While only 7 percent of Democrats said they would not be vaccinated against the virus, 20 percent of Republicans polled said they would choose not to receive the vaccine.
It’s not entirely clear why there is such widespread resistance to a not-yet-existent vaccine on the right, but we can make some educated guesses.
Some people view any vaccinations as an infringement on their “freedoms.” Others might just not trust medical science.
Some of the resistance shown by Republicans towards getting the vaccine could be linked to the anti-vaccination movement. Those who are against such preventative medications believe that vaccinations can be linked to other conditions, such as autism.
But one in five seems like an awfully high percentage of “anti-vaxxers.” There must be something else at work, here … wait, I think I’ve got it!
I suppose people might decline to be vaccinated if someone with the loudest megaphone on the planet spent two months minimizing the seriousness of the virus, or claiming it was all a “hoax,” which, like a miracle, would just “go away.” Or maybe if someone with the second-loudest megaphone, or third loudest, said pretty much the same thing.
Perhaps people were encouraged by their governor to believe that the virus somehow only selectively stalked and infected “city” (i.e., Black or brown) people. Maybe their governor publicly announced it was fine to go on and get a tattoo and massage before a trip to the local bowling alley.
All of those things might influence people’s decision. Hell, these folks might even be taking cues from the president and vice president, who don’t seem to think that the novel coronavirus is that big of a deal.
Republicans have eschewed CDC guidance for mitigating against coronavirus, including social distancing protocols and the wearing of face masks. Vice President Mike Pence was criticized for not wearing a face mask during his tour of the Mayo Clinic in April.
Or maybe like this jackass in Ohio, people might consider it an infringement on their God-given right to infect other people with a deadly virus.
“This is not the entire world,” state Rep. Nino Vitale wrote in a lengthy Facebook post on Monday morning. “This is the greatest nation on earth founded on Judeo-Christian Principles.”
“One of those principles is that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. That image is seen the most by our face. I will not wear a mask,” he continued.
It may just involve some serious magical thinking at work, with folks telling themselves they’re not at risk, or likely to recover. Yet even that requires a whole lot of willful ignorance. It means that those harrowing scenes on the nightly news showing hospital workers desperately trying to care for people in intensive care units all over the country just didn’t make an impression. It means ignoring all those public service announcements on the TV. It means ignoring the fact that people they actually know have died.
Maybe it’s just to “own the libs.” Or to prove all those Hollywood-types and musicians wrong. Whatever the reason, it’s a real puzzle how people could feel this way. Especially with 70,000 dead already, just in the U.S.
Most people don’t expect a vaccine for COVID-19 to be developed until 2021—at the earliest. So the impact of this apparent resolve by so many Republicans to refuse a vaccine, assuming these numbers hold steady, won’t be felt immediately.
But it sure is going to make control of the government a lot easier for Democrats from 2022 on.