San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
White House hits back at vaccine outreach critics
WASHINGTON — For months, the Biden White House refrained from criticizing Republican officials who downplayed the importance of coronavirus vaccinations or sought to make political hay of the federal government’s allout effort to drive shots into arms. Not any longer.
With the vaccination rate plateauing across the country, the White House is returning fire at those they see as spreading harmful misinformation or fear about the shots.
When South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster tried last week to block doortodoor efforts to drive up the vaccination rate in his state, White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not mince words.
“The failure to provide accurate public health information, including the efficacy of vaccines and the accessibility of them to people across the country, including South Carolina, is literally killing people, so maybe they should consider that,” she said Friday.
While 67% of American adults have gotten at least one dose, officials are increasingly worried about vast geographic disparity in vaccination rates, and the emergence of what some experts warn could be two dramatically different realities for the country in the coming months: High vaccine uptake and lower caseloads in more Democraticleaning parts of the country, and fresh hot spots and the development of dangerous variants in more GOPleaning areas.
In the early months of the administration, the White House largely declined to criticize state and local officials’ handling of their vaccination programs, eager to maintain their buyin and to prevent the politicization of the lifesaving campaign.
The recent change in tone comes after some GOP officials criticized President Biden for calling for a doortodoor campaign to spread information about the safety of vaccines. Some in the GOP saw a political opening, catering to the party’s smallgovernment roots and libertarian wing.
“The Biden Administration wants to knock on your door to see if you’re vaccinated,” tweeted Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. “What’s next? Knocking on your door to see if you own a gun?”
For the usually reserved Biden White House, it was a bridge too far.
“For those individuals, organizations that are feeding misinformation and trying to mischaracterize this type of trustedmessenger work, I believe you are doing a disservice to the country,” said White House COVID19 coordinator Jeff Zients.