Mitch McConnell to fellow Republicans: ‘We need to take this vaccine’
'The sooner we can get to 75%, to herd immunity, and get our economy up and open, the better.'
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell used a recent visit to a western Kentucky hospital to encourage his fellow republicans to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
McConnell spoke on Thursday while addressing his peers, The Sentinel-Echo reports.
“As a Republican man, I wasn’t reluctant to get it when I was eligible and I would encourage everybody to do that,” he said. “The sooner we can get to 75%, to herd immunity, and get our economy up and open, the better.”
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“There may be some segments of our population that still have some reservations about this for one reason or another,” he said. “But, what I heard from these health care professionals behind me, is there’s no real good reason not to get the vaccination.”
Video footage of McConnell speaking on vaccine hesitancy has been shared on Twitter by ABC News.
“I saw a program last week that Republican men curiously enough might be reluctant to take the vaccine. I’m a Republican man and I want to say to everyone, we need to take this vaccine. These reservations need to be put aside,” he remarked.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Kentucky residents age 16 and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“This is a good day. This news means that we will beat the president’s goal by a month to have COVID-19 vaccinations opened up to everyone,” said Governor Andy Beshear. “We are seeing in a number of states an increase in cases and hospitalizations, and it’s happening among younger people. We want to get ahead of the more aggressive COVID-19 variants and make sure that we fill every available appointment. Make a plan to get your shot of hope.”
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The outlet reported, as of Saturday, there have been a total of 429,106 coronavirus cases in Kentucky and more than 1,424,800 Kentuckians have been vaccinated.
As people continue to get vaccinated in an attempt to end the pandemic, the companies behind the shots continue to provide updates on the new medical technology. theGrio reported Pfizer announced its COVID-19 vaccine is effective for at least six months.
On April 1, Pfizer and BioNTech revealed its vaccine protects against a variant that drug makers were concerned about, per NBC News. It added that an individual is protected for up to six months after their second dose.
“This virus is not invincible, and despite all these variants, the vaccines are working great,” said Jeremy Kamil, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, per NBC News, “That is really outstanding and people should be celebrating that.”
Experts also say that the available vaccines are exceeding their expectations.
This article contains additional reporting by theGrio’s Keydra Manns.
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