Ron Johnson downplays urgency of getting Covid-19 vaccine
CNN
Sen. Ron Johnson on Thursday downplayed the urgency of vaccinating all Americans against Covid-19, putting the controversial Wisconsin Republican at odds with public health guidance aimed at easing the ongoing pandemic.
"The science tells us that vaccines are 95% effective. So if you have a vaccine, quite honestly, what do you care if your neighbor has one or not? I mean, what is it to you?" Johnson said in an interview with conservative radio host Vicki McKenna. "You got a vaccine, and science is telling you it's very, very effective. So why is this big push to make sure everybody gets a vaccine?" Johnson asked.Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to slam the “repeated attacks” and “conspiracy” theories floated by Republicans about the Justice Department being weaponized against former President Donald Trump during his opening statements to Congress on Tuesday, according to prepared remarks shared with CNN.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said he sees a direct link between the rise in death threats made against him and his family and public figures connecting him to Covid-19 conspiracy theories, which he noted happened earlier Monday during a contentious House hearing about the government’s response to the pandemic.
The public lashing Dr. Anthony Fauci faced on Capitol Hill Monday was illustrative of his enduring unpopularity with the GOP’s conservative base. Yet even as Republicans seek to capitalize on that dislike of the infectious disease expert, former President Donald Trump’s past elevation of Fauci is a potential vulnerability as he fights off an insurgent independent campaign from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.