On Oct. 20, 2021, Fox News host Neil Cavuto put out a statement saying he had tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19. Cavuto, who has multiple sclerosis, has been treated for cancer, and had open-heart surgery, pointed out that being vaccinated was most likely the reason he was still alive. “Had I not been vaccinated, and with all my medical issues, this would be a far more dire situation. It’s not, because I did [get vaccinated], and I’m surviving this because I did.”
Cavuto went on to urge Fox News’ viewers to get themselves vaccinated because it would protect not only themselves but people like Cavuto. This, of course, was played down by Fox News as it has become one of the most popular peddlers of COVID-19 misinformation, which includes boatloads of anti-vaxx sentiment, conspiracy theory, and general anti-science positions. For his part, Cavuto received all kinds of heartwarming hate mail, which he read on air a week later.
In recent weeks Cavuto has disappeared from the network, leading to much speculation over where he was and what had happened with him. On Monday, Cavuto returned to his Cavuto: Coast to Coast show and revealed that he had indeed caught COVID-19 a second time. This time, however, he had ended up in the ICU.
Telling his audience that he had caught “what doctors call COVID pneumonia,” Cavuto said he ended up in the ICU for a long time. He also claimed that he had asked for Fox News to keep his medical situation private as he didn’t want to be a story in the news. Cavuto said he was explaining himself now because what had initially been a few days of absence had stretched into weeks.
He addressed the truly pathetic and ignorant claims made that he had been hospitalized because of the vaccine, saying that had the weight of a fantastical conspiracy theory. "Some of you who've wanted to put me out of my misery darn near got what you wished for. So, sorry to disappoint you! But no, the vaccine didn't cause that. That grassy knoll theory has come up a lot. My very compromised immune system did." Cavuto has taken the middle-ground right-wing stance that everybody should decide whether or not they take the vaccine, but that they should get vaccinated. This stance is one that most people on both sides of the aisle agree with, though the left side of that aisle cannot believe how drenched one’s brain has to be in misinformation to decide against life-saving medicine.
Cavuto also tried to, once again, impart onto the Fox News audience the seriousness of listening to medical professionals. He explained that just because his underlying conditions meant that he was a part of a very small percentage of people for whom the benefits of the vaccine were not as robust, this did not mean the vaccine was not effective. "Let me be clear: Doctors say had I not been vaccinated at all, I wouldn't be here." Saying that while it was not of great comfort to him that his personal situation was so much more precarious than it might otherwise be, that didn’t mean the vaccine was any less worthwhile. “It provided some defense, but that is still better than no defense.”
Facts prove that.
As you can see from the Civiqs chart below, being Republican continues to define how much of a ‘fraidy cat you are about getting vaccinated.
Here’s Cavuto.