We Need Vaccine Passports — Now
President Biden’s vaccine rollout is the envy of the world and has saved numerous lives. The Biden COVID-19 vaccination campaign prevented up to 279,000 deaths and 1.25 million hospitalizations, according to a recent study from the Yale School of Public Health and the Commonwealth Fund. Since Biden has been in office, the number of daily corona virus cases declined from 195,000 to as low as approximately 12,000 by July 4. However, corona virus cases are on the rise again due to the irresponsibility of the right wing media and many Republicans.
The biggest obstacle to continued progress is Fox News and the right wing media. They are discouraging their followers from getting vaccinated for ratings and money. Fox and the right wing media are going to get people sick and even killed.
“While young people and African Americans exhibit vaccine hesitancy, the most problematic group by far is Republicans. According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 86 percent of Democrats have gotten at least one vaccine shot, compared with only 45 percent of Republicans. Forty-seven percent of Republicans say they likely won’t get vaccinated, compared with only 6 percent of Democrats.” Max Boot of the Washington Post.
In a recent opinion piece for The Daily Beast, Preston Padden, a former high-level executive at Fox Broadcasting, wrote that Fox News had “contributed substantially and directly” to “the unnecessary deaths of many Americans by fueling hesitation and doubt about the efficacy and safety of lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines.” He singled out the Fox’s highly rated prime-time opinion programs for blame.
“We could be crushing COVID-19 completely. We have the technology. The main thing stopping us is vaccine skepticism, primarily among conservatives, which conservative politicians and conservative media refuse to do anything about. The contempt they’re showing for their own constituents is almost beyond belief.” Progressive blogger Kevin Drum.
It’s pretty obvious that the GOP and the right wing media are attempting to sabotage Biden’s vaccine rollout. This is the height of recklessness and irresponsibility. This is literally a matter of life and death that requires a serious response.
The Biden Administration should file legal challenges against the broadcast licenses of Fox and any other media outlet that allows dangerous, anti-vaxxer propaganda. One of the requirements for a broadcast license is that the media outlet must act in the public interest. Obviously, encouraging people to get sick — and even die- doesn’t meet that criteria.
At the same time, private practice lawyers should file a class action lawsuit against right wing media outlets for the sickness and deaths that their propaganda is encouraging. This might be an effective strategy since Fox News, One America Network and Newsmax all retracted their discredited election conspiracy claims once they were sued by Dominion Voting Systems.
At the same time, the Biden Administration should encourage corporations, universities and state and local governments to require vaccine passports. The government in France has required vaccine passports for people to frequent restaurants, bars, public transportation and tourist attractions. Once the French government required proof of vaccination, approximately 1 million French citizens made appointments to get vaccinated on July 12 alone.
These aggressive attempts to stamp out the deadly pandemic will cause a lot of whining on the right. These deeply irresponsible people will falsely claim that they’re losing their “freedom.” If people decide to turn down an effective, safe and free vaccine, the rest of us can can choose not to interact with them. Freedom is a two way street. Liberty doesn’t mean the freedom to infect others.
The 2022 mid-term elections will be here before you know it. This will probably be the most consequential mid-term election in our history. If the Republicans regain control of one or more house of Congress, they will shut off funds for the Biden vaccine rollout in order to appease Fox News and their extreme base. Thousands of people will die — mostly their own followers.
That’s not all that the Republicans would do if they grabbed power again. Already, the D.C. Republicans are talking about shutting down the government and defaulting on the national debt to bully Biden into cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA. The Republican Party in its present state is dangerous and unfit to govern.
Let’s leave it all out on the field in 2022! We can do it!