Chuck: Get vaxed!
Says virus will linger if lots refuse shots
A “supercharged” rollout of COVID-19 vaccines will do little to fight the pandemic if tens of millions of Americans refuse to get the shots, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned Sunday.
New York State is set to receive more than 1.6 million vaccines per week by the end of April, a 33% increase from current levels. The uptick gives some hope of a return to normal life this summer — but Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said widespread vaccine hesitancy could keep the pandemic around much longer.
A survey of 1,227 adults published by NPR and the Marist Institute last week found a third of Americans do not plan to get the vaccine, including roughly half of men registered as Republicans.
“If a third or even 20% of Americans don’t take it, it could make it harder to overcome this awful disease,” Schumer said during a news conference.
“The dangers of getting COVID if you don’t take the vaccine are many, many more times the dangers of any side effect.”
Schumer said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must immediately tap the roughly $1 billion for COVID-19 vaccine awareness and education it’s allocated through the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed by Congress and signed by President Biden earlier this month.
The campaign should target communities where vaccine hesitancy is most rampant, and include a door-knocking effort by outreach workers and an ad blitz, Schumer said. He also urged those who have already received the vaccine to promote it via word of mouth.
“All people have to do is talk to their friends who have had it, and they will know it’s legitimate and good to take the vaccine,” Schumer said.
The senator’s push for inoculations comes the same weekend that vaccines became available at New York City pharmacies for people with underlying health conditions.
The locations previously only gave doses to New Yorkers aged 60 or older.
The remarks also come a day after Gov. Cuomo confirmed the first New York case of a Brazilian COVID-19 variant experts say is more contagious than earlier strains.
Another new variant identified last month in New York — called B.1.526 — is further cause for concern.
“Every person who might needlessly turn down a vaccine marks a win for the virus, and we cannot allow the virus or its variants to win,” Schumer said.
New York City has over the past week seen more than 3,500 new COVID-19 cases per day, accounting for more than 6% of new cases nationwide despite the city being home to just 2.5% of the country’s population.
Despite the high number of cases, Cuomo last week again relaxed restrictions aimed to curb the spread of the virus, which Mayor de Blasio on Thursday said was intended to distract from the governor’s scandals surrounding sexual harassment and nursing home deaths.
“It sure as hell looks like a lot of these decisions are being made by the governor because of his political needs,” de Blasio said.