Updated COVID boosters are here. Cue the MAGA misinformation. | Editorial
Americans should be beyond exhausted by the reckless efforts of the GOP’s extreme wing to gain political leverage from a pandemic that has claimed more than 1.1 million lives in our nation.
The Food and Drug Administration’s approval of updated booster shots to combat the recent uptick in COVID-19 infections can only mean one thing: It’s time for extremist Republicans to play politics again with a serious public health issue.
After Donald Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic cost nearly 400,000 American lives, one would think the country would have learned its lesson. But as COVID cases, hospitalizations, and even deaths rise, Trump and his wannabes are seeking to politicize the virus.
“The radical Democrats are trying hard to restart COVID hysteria,” Trump said during a recent campaign stop in South Dakota. “I wonder why. Is there an election coming up by any chance?”
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Not to be outdone, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who trails Trump in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, pushed back on the recent recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the updated booster shots approved by the FDA.
“I will not stand by and let the FDA and CDC use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for new booster shots,” DeSantis said.
Other lesser lights chimed in with misinformation that will likely scare some from getting boosters. Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.), who is running for president, posted online that the “radical left” seeks to bring back school closures and mandates.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R., Ohio), the once-thoughtful Hillbilly Elegy author turned Trump-loving phony, proposed the “Freedom to Breathe Act,” a measure that would block the federal government from imposing mask mandates for domestic flights, public transit, and schools.
Here we go again.
By now, Americans should be beyond exhausted by the reckless efforts of the GOP’s extreme wing to gain some kind of political leverage from a pandemic that has claimed more than 1.1 million lives in our nation and which managed to cripple the global economy. But far too many Republican officials are frauds when it comes to important issues such as science, climate change, and even democracy. Rather than follow facts, they will say and do anything to court hard-line MAGA Republican voters to stay in power.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah) laid bare in a forthcoming book that many of his Republican colleagues have a dim view of Trump, but are afraid to speak up for fear of not getting elected. After the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Romney concluded, “A very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the Constitution.”
The same shameless drive to hold onto power has fueled the Republican rhetoric regarding COVID, masks, and vaccines. The blood on the hands of Trump and others in the GOP should not be forgotten, let alone rewarded by voters.
The efficacy of the COVID vaccines — while not foolproof — is beyond dispute. The vaccines saved more than three million lives in America and tens of millions around the world. The shots kept millions more out of the hospital.
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About two-thirds of Americans have been fully vaccinated, but about one in six refuse to get a jab. The new shots approved by the FDA appear to be effective against a vast majority of COVID variants in circulation, according to the CDC.
But DeSantis advised Florida residents under age 65 to skip the updated boosters. In a state that, according to the most recent data, is leading the nation in weekly COVID deaths, that’s particularly irresponsible advice.
The CDC recommended everyone 6 months and older get the updated booster shots to protect against the rise in COVID-19 infections. With the start of autumn on Thursday, public health officials are also urging residents to get flu shots and vaccines against RSV — a respiratory virus with cold-like symptoms that can be lethal to the very young and the very old.
There have been some delays in getting the booster shots shipped to pharmacies in the Philadelphia region, as well as questions about whether the costs would be covered for those without insurance. Patience and fortitude may be required.
But the benefits of the shots are clear. When it comes to public health, folks should listen to the scientists, and not self-serving politicians.