‘One of the Greatest Achievements of Mankind’

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In two recent appearances, former US President Donald Trump has been advocating for Covid-19 vaccines and … [+] boosters, indicating that he has already taken the booster shot. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Last week, former U.S. President and current Mar-A-Lago resident Donald Trump said he got the Covid-19 booster shot and the Covid-19 vaccines are working. In fact, in a TV show hosted by political commentator Candace Owens, Trump called the Covid-19 vaccines “one of humanity’s greatest achievements.” The question is how much influence Trump has on those who support him but still refuse to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Last Sunday, Trump appeared with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly on stage at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, as part of “The History Tour.” O’Reilly told the audience “Both the President and I were vaxx,” and asked Trump, “Did you get the booster?” To Trump’s answer, “yes,” and O’Reilly added, “I got it too.” This exchange caused some boos from the crowd as you can see in the video that included the following tweet from CBS News:

Welcome to 2021, when people are booed for taking science-based public health measures. What’s next? Shouting at people for wearing underwear or using the bathroom. Trump then appropriately chastised the crowd, “Oh, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t! There’s a very tiny group over there, ”while waving his hand and shaking. Yes, Trump called them small.

Then on Tuesday, Trump appeared on an episode of the Daily Wire show “Candace,” hosted by Owens. If you go to the Daily Wire website today, you will be greeted with “DO NOT FOLLOW,” in ALL CAPS. The message stated, “We will fight legacy media with real news and investigative journalism. We fight wake entertainment with original comedy, sports, and movies. And now we are fighting the government’s harsh vaccination mandate. ”

In the words of Keanu Reeves as Neo in the films The Matrix, “whoa!” So it’s no surprise that Owens on his show started asking questions about the Covid-19 vaccine as the video embedded in this tweet showed:

As you can see, Trump said that “the vaccine is one of humanity’s greatest achievements.” Trump, surprise, surprise, took credit for the vaccine by saying, “I made one vaccine, with three vaccines.” He used the words “derived” even though Trump is unlikely to be one of the many scientists working in laboratories or clinics on vaccines. “Everything is very, very good,” he added. “Arrived at three of them in less than nine months. It should take five to 12 years.” Of course, real science doesn’t work like Tony Stark and Iron Man. No one can think of a completely new vaccine technology in nine months. Trump did not give birth to the vaccine after taking it for so long. Instead, researchers have been working on mRNA vaccines for more than a decade. The US is fortunate, very fortunate, that this technology is randomly available to be used against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

However, Owens cut Trump’s praise for the vaccine and himself by “More people have died under COVID this year. By the way, under Joe Biden, than under you and more people got the vaccine this year. So people ask how—. ”

Whomp. Did Owens just throw “Joe Biden” into the conversation? However, Trump stuck to the point and syringe, interrupting back by emphasizing, “Oh, vaccines work, but some people don’t have those.” He continued with, “Those who get very sick and are hospitalized, those who do not get vaccinated. But they still have a choice. And if you get the vaccine, you’re protected. ”

Trump added, “Look, the vaccine results are very good, and if you get it, it’s a very small form. People don’t die when they get the vaccine.” Trump is right on most. The vaccine does not offer 100% protection though. It’s not like a massive full-body concrete condom. You can still get seriously ill with Covid-19 if you are vaccinated, even if your chances are lower. That is why it is so important to combine other precautions with Covid-19 such as wearing a face mask and social distancing as long as SARS-CoV-2 is still spreading in a relatively uncontrolled way.

Interestingly, when Owens said that kids wearing face masks at school was “like China,” Trump pushed. He replied, “China’s education system is better than ours. Did you know? They are rated as two or three. And we’re rated as 44. Yes, Owens entered a “China-like” conversation but Trump didn’t take the seeming bait.

Protests against vaccination often include people with Trump flags and other Trump … [+] things. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

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So where does that go in the US, which is in the midst of the Covid-19 Winter surge that started before the Omicron variant spread? Well, the coverage of Covid-19 vaccination is even lower than the levels needed to actually delay the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures show that 61.7% of the total U.S. population is fully vaccinated and only 31.5% get a booster shot. Andrew Romano for Yahoo News recently covered results from a Yahoo News and YouGov survey of 1,558 U.S. adults, conducted from Dec. 9 to 13. This survey revealed that 48% of voters of Trump’s opposition to encouraging vaccination with Covid-19 in response to the spread of the Omicron variant. Much has already been written about how a large percentage of those who still refuse to vaccinate Trump in the 2020 Presidential election will support Trump.

So will Trump’s advocacy for vaccination against Covid-19 really change the minds of his supporters? Of course, one question is who is ahead of whom? Did Trump really have that much influence over others? Or did he deliberately reflect and reinforce the feelings of his supporters before he moved into politics? As a well -known politician told me, politicians do not lead but instead determine where the wind blows and then try to follow the wind.

Not all anti-vaxxers are Trump supporters and not all anti-vaccination sentiment comes from the so-called “Red States” as this Jordan Klepper segment on The Daily Show showed:

Yes, you heard that right. People are willing to seek medical advice from a cat and coffee enema to their bottom but not a vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

If Trump wants to show real leadership, he can do so by influencing those who are still not resistant to the Covid-19 vaccination. Trump deserves credit for supporting the development of Covid-19 vaccines. So it makes sense for him to protect such a heritage by doing his best to maximize its impact. Whether he can help overcome the situation of vaccine hesitation with Covid-19 will show if Trump can really overcome anti-vaxxer sentiment.

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