Dr. Anthony Fauci has blamed “ideological rigidity” as a deterrent to vaccination efforts in the face of the rising threat of more virulent COVID-19 variants.
Just under half of all eligible Americans have received full vaccinations against the coronavirus, but the Delta and Lambda variants threaten that progress. The Biden administration has continued to urge Americans to receive the shots as soon as possible, but in some states the demand for vaccines has fallen, even with ample supplies now available.
Fauci has blamed politics for deterring an otherwise successful vaccination effort, with the majority of U.S. states and territories having administered at or above 75% of their first vaccine doses, according to the CDC.
“I mean, it’s ideological rigidity,” Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think there’s no reason not to get vaccinated. Why are we having red states and places in the South that are very highly ideological in one way, not wanting to get vaccinations – vaccinations have nothing to do with politics.”
Fauci also labeled scenes from this weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) “horrifying” when participants cheered following a comment that the government was not able to achieve 90% vaccinations.
“It’s horrifying,” Fauci said. “I mean, they are cheering about someone saying it’s a good thing for people not to try and save their lives.”- READ MORE
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