Fauci: Trump should urge followers to get shots
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he wishes former President Donald Trump would use his popularity among Republicans to persuade more of his followers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
In interviews on Sunday morning news shows, the government’s top infectious disease expert lamented polling showing that Trump supporters are more likely to refuse to get vaccinated, saying politics needs to be separated from “common sense, no-brainer” public health measures.
Fauci said it would be a “game changer” for the country’s vaccine efforts if the former president used his “incredible influence” among Republicans.
“If he came out and said, ‘Go and get vaccinated. It’s really important for your health, the health of your family and the health of the country,’ it seems absolutely inevitable that the vast majority of people who are his close followers would listen to him,” Fauci told “Fox News Sunday.”
There was no immediate comment from the former president’s office Sunday.
Polls have shown Republicans joining African Americans and other groups in expressing greater skepticism than others about the safety of the vaccine, but Fauci said he doesn’t understand the resistance.
“This is a vaccine that is going to be lifesaving for millions of people,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He added: “I just can’t comprehend what the reason for that is when you have a vaccine that’s 94-95% effective and it is very safe. I just don’t get it.”
About 1 in 5 Americans have received at least one dose, with
about 1 in 9 fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The coronavirus is blamed for more than 534,000 deaths in the United States.
A powerful late winter snowstorm intensified over the central Rocky Mountains on Sunday with heavy snow and wind leading to airport and road closures, power outages and avalanche warnings in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.
The National Weather Service in Wyoming called it a “historic and crippling” winter storm that would cause extremely dangerous to impossible travel conditions through at least early Monday.
Major roads southeast of a line that crosses diagonally from the southwest corner of Wyoming to its northeast corner were closed Sunday, including roads in and out of Cheyenne and Casper.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation suspended plowing operations in the Casper area Sunday due to heavy snow and a lack of visibility, the agency said.
“We had several plows drive off the roadway due to limited to zero visibility,” the agency said on its Facebook page.
Interstate 80 was closed across southern Wyoming and into the Nebraska panhandle, where 19 inches of snow were reported south of Gering, Nebraska. Interstate 25 was closed north from Fort Collins, Colorado, to its end at Buffalo, Wyoming.
Denver Public Schools are taking a snow day Monday, as will schools in Cheyenne and Casper in Wyoming. Some government offices in those areas also will be closed Monday.
At Denver International Airport, the runways were closed just before noon Sunday due to blowing snow and poor visibilities. “Many flights have already been canceled so the runway closures have minimal impacts,” airport officials said in social media posts. Nearly 2 feet of snow had fallen at the airport Sunday, the weather service said.
The Northern Colorado Regional Airport that serves the Fort Collins and Loveland areas was closed Sunday after receiving a foot of snow, according to the airport’s social media accounts.
An avalanche warning was in effect Sunday for the Rocky Mountains west of Fort Collins,
Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs where “intense snowfall will cause large and destructive avalanches,” Colorado Avalanche Center said. The center warned that avalanches could happen in unusual locations and recommended against traveling in the backcountry.
An avalanche blocked Colorado Highway 14 in north-central Colorado on Sunday, the Department of Transportation said.
Nearly 32,000 Xcel Energy customers were without power Sunday in north-central Colorado, while smaller outages were reported in the same area by the Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association
Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming has reported several outages. The power company expects more service interruptions as the storm continues.
“Heavy snow and drifting conditions from wind is expected to make travel and repair work increasingly difficult today,” Curt Mansfield, vice president of operations for Rocky Mountain Power said in a statement Sunday.