Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified before the House Selective Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Capitol Hill, Washington, USA, on April 15, 2021.
Amr Alfiky | Reuters
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, said Monday that it is “disturbing” that some Americans do not get the Covid-19 vaccine for political reasons.
Fauci said those who refuse to be vaccinated against the virus are the same ones who say the U.S. government is “invading our freedoms” by asking Americans to put on masks and apply other security measures against the pandemic. . He said the “easiest” way out of the pandemic is to get a vaccine.
“It’s almost paradoxical that they don’t want to be vaccinated,” Fauci said in an interview with CBS This Morning. “So that’s what we have to work on. We can’t be pejorative for them. We have to try to convince them why it’s so important to get where they want and where I want to be and where all health officials want to be. public would be vaccinated. “
Fauci’s comments come when President Joe Biden’s deadline for states to expand eligibility requirements for the vaccine came. Biden asked states to open appointments for all adults in the United States before Monday.
Even with the opening of vaccine eligibility, polls suggest a significant portion of Americans will refuse to take the shots, which could slow that nation’s recovery from the pandemic it has killed. at least 567,233 Americans in just over a year.
About 28% of Republicans said they would “definitely” not get a Covid-19 and 18% said they would “wait to see” before receiving a shot, according to a nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation poll. , published in late February.
Anthony D. Dell’Aera, an adjunct professor of political science at Worcester State University, told CNBC in a recent interview that these Republicans, many of them supporters of former President Donald Trump, often distrust the government and, for both will probably reject the vaccines.
He said researchers saw similar resistance to the vaccine among Republicans during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic.
“Republicans and Trump supporters specifically are the most likely to have less confidence in the government and the push for vaccination,” he said, adding that resistance to the vaccine goes “beyond” Trump himself. Trump simply “took advantage of that mistrust of the government and I think Trump helped bring that perspective to light,” he added.
Fauci said the U.S. has deployed thousands of clergy, athletes and other respected members of local communities to convince people to get vaccinated.
“There will really be a press in court to get people [vaccinated,] whoever they are, ”he said.