Regret and Panic Among Conservatives Who've Rejected the Vaccines


Scores of stories are appearing on mainstream and social media about people who are sick with COVID-19 because they didn't get vaccinated. Predictably, they now regret their choices. Among the cases:

  • An Alabama mom watched her son die and got seriously ill herself. "It took watching my son die and me suffering the effects of covid for us to realize we need the vaccine. We did not get vaccinated when we had the opportunity and regret that so much now.”
  • A Florida mother of eight nearly died, spending six days in the ICU. "I was one of those people that was like, ‘I can’t believe people are just going to inject their bodies with this medication. We don’t know enough about it.’ Now I’m just like it’s just a shot. Just get the stupid shot. That vaccine could have stopped all of this. Just one little shot. I feel foolish that I didn’t get it. I wish to God I would have got it because it’s not just about what it could have prevented me from experiencing physically in my life right now, but it could have saved my family so much heartache. My children from seeing me go through that. My husband. My siblings from seeing it."
  • A conservative radio host from Tennessee, hospitalized with a serious infection, regrets his vaccine decision.  His brother said in an interview: "For those listening, I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, 'Go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories.'"
  • A hospital physician in Arkansas says his patients are "shocked" that COVID-19 truly exists. "A comment they make all the time is that they wish that they knew they were going to end up in the hospital this sick and they would have made a different choice and got the vaccine."
  • An Alabama doctor says "I'm admitting young healthy people to the hospital with very serious COVID infections. One of the last things they do before they're intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I'm sorry, but it's too late."
I don't know how to feel about these stories. On one hand, they are incredibly sad, even tragic. Nobody should die or come close to dying from a preventable illness.

On the other hand, these people (and people like them repeatedly insist they're not stupid) chose to believe crackpot anti-vax claims and antigovernment propaganda while ignoring overwhelming evidence that the vaccines are safe and effective. They are reaping the consequences of their own bad decisions, so it's hard to muster much sympathy for them.

The best comment I heard on this subject came from a public health official (unfortunately I can't find the link). He said words to the effect, "you're going to get inoculated one way or another. You can either do it with a vaccine that has been proven safe over 300 million times or take your chances with the Delta variant."

It's no accident that these stories are coming out of "red" states. They are among the places with the lowest vaccination rates in the country. 

Republican leaders appear to be in something of a panic, having realized that the disease is now killing their voters:
  • Gov. Kay Ivy of Alabama has said it's time to start allocating blame to people who haven't gotten shots. (Agreed, but what took so long Governor?)
  • Gov. Ron "Florida Man" DeSantis is suddenly urging his constituents to get vaccinated. This is probably because his handling of the crisis isn't looking so awesome anymore, what with Florida accounting for one-fifth of all the cases in the U.S. For his trouble DeSantis is being accused of selling out and taking bribes.
  • Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, number two house Republican, got vaccinated, was photographed doing so, and told others to do it.
  • Former Trump administration Surgeon General Jerome Adams says the pandemic is "spiraling out of control" and urges everyone to get vaccinated.
  • Over at Fox News, Sean Hannity endorsed vaccines several days ago, only to walk back his endorsement upon receiving pushback from the death cult.  
  • Fox & Friend Steve Doocy also told his viewers to "get the shot." No word yet on when he'll be walking back his statement.
The one conservative "leader" who could probably have the biggest impact is the Giant Orange Douche. But he's keeping is mouth shut. 

He probably sees the new surge cutting into President Biden's poll numbers, and thinks that will work out well for him. To hell with his disgusting supporters who are suffering and dying.

Image by Craig Steffan from Pixabay 

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