On Tuesday, former White House Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci stated on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that political ideology contributed to a higher number of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations in red states compared to blue states.
“We now head into a moment where because of that divisiveness, it’s become a political issue. Vaccinations in particular have become a political issue where you have not just Donald Trump but other Republicans saying, no, no, don’t take the COVID vaccine,” co-host Jonathan Lemire said.
“We had other prominent figures saying, no, you should not take other vaccines as well, things that are standard that everyone has perceived for decades,” he continued.
“With this much of disinformation and anger and just flat out vaccine hesitancy, how nervous are you about our ability to handle the next pandemic, whatever it might be?” Lemire asked.
“I’m very concerned about that because the misinformation and disinformation about absolutely scientifically proven life saving interventions,” Fauci said.
“It’s astonishing to me that so many people by political ideology will make a decision that would actually endanger their lives,” he continued.
“The facts are, and as a physician and a scientist, this is very painful to me, that if you look at red states versus blue states, because of people getting less vaccinated because you’re a Republican versus a Democrat, there are more deaths and hospitalizations in red states versus blue states,” Fauci said.
“That’s horrible that that happens, that people suffer and die because of misinformation that’s related to a political ideology,” he concluded.
WATCH:
Share your thoughts by scrolling down to leave a comment.
