Democrats can’t defeat the pandemic alone. It’s time for Republicans to step up.

Democrats can’t defeat the pandemic alone. It’s time for Republicans to step up.

 Opinion by 

Paul Waldman

Columnist

May 15, 2021 at 2:51 a.m. GMT+9

Vice President Mike Pence receives a Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine shot in December 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now saying that those who have been fully vaccinated against covid-19 can go without masks in most situations even indoors, it’s finally feeling like the end of the pandemic — or at least a return to something resembling normal life — is in sight. Still, it’s not over by any means; we’re averaging around 35,000 new infections and 600 deaths every day.

But if millions of people are going to be removing their masks, gathering together, eating in restaurants, and going to movies — in other words, engaging in activities more amenable to the spread of the virus than what they’ve done in a year — it’s absolutely vital that we get as many people vaccinated as possible.

And for that, we need the help of prominent Republicans.

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We don’t need them to do much. They just have to do two things, one of which most of them have almost certainly already done. First, they have to get vaccinated. Second, they have to tell everyone — especially their own supporters — that they’ve been vaccinated.

They don’t have to become crusaders. They don’t have to attack the anti-vaxxers among their own allies. They just have to be role models.

Yet at the moment, many of them are treating vaccination like some kind of shameful secret they have to conceal.

Start with Congress. CNN reports that every Democratic senator has confirmed getting vaccinated, as have 46 of 50 Republican senators. Two GOP senators (Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Mike Braun of Indiana) refuse to say either way, and two (Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin) say they don’t need to because they had covid. The latter two have been spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about the pandemic.

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In the House, all 219 Democrats have gotten vaccinated. It’s among Republicans where the most striking results are found:

Among the Republican conference, 95 of the 212 members — 44.8% — have said they are vaccinated.

One hundred and twelve Republican offices did not respond to multiple CNN inquiries.

Their refusal to say whether they’ve been vaccinated is often framed in terms of “privacy” — for themselves and for others — which is misconceived in multiple ways.

First, when it comes to whether you’ve been vaccinated, nobody is asking if you’ve been treated for depression, gotten herpes, or had anything else that might potentially carry (rightly or wrongly) some kind of stigma or risk of embarrassment. We’re talking about whether you’ve done the responsible thing and protected yourself and other people from a dangerous communicable disease.

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We’ve never before treated vaccination as a matter of inviolable privacy; children across the country are required to be vaccinated before coming to public school. What’s more, public officials give up all kinds of privacy to run for office, making lengthy disclosures about income, debts, and assets. And if I’m your co-worker, don’t I have a right to know whether you pose a danger to me and my family?

Finally, what exactly would be revealed by saying, “Yes, I got vaccinated?” In what universe would that be a shameful secret for anyone?

We know the unfortunate answer: in the Republican universe. And that’s the real reason so many GOP members of Congress don’t want to say.

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It’s because, as we’ve seen so many times, they live in terror of their own supporters, whom they consider a collection of extremists and fools. They have to constantly tiptoe around them, afraid that a wrong move could rouse the beast and get them a primary challenge from the right.

Yet I’m quite certain that outside a few members of the QAnon Caucus, almost all those Republicans keeping their lips zippered have indeed been vaccinated.

That goes for the right’s media figures as well. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has turned himself into America’s most prominent anti-vaxxer, “raising questions” about the vaccines on a nightly basis, seemingly determined to convince his viewers that vaccines might not work, might kill you, and are in any case an attempt by sinister forces to control your life.

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But has Carlson himself, and his family, been vaccinated? He refuses to say. I’ll bet they have: Carlson may be the single most toxic figure in American media today, but he’s not dumb.

He’s not alone in his hesitancy to reveal whether he’s been vaccinated. Sean Hannity would have said by now, but that’s just what the libs want him to do. “I probably would have told people my decision until everyone started demanding that I tell them what my decision is,” he said in late April.

To their credit, a number of Fox News personalities have said they’ve been vaccinated, including Bret Baier, Dana Perino, Bill Hemmer and all three “Fox & Friends” co-hosts. Which shows that it’s possible for prominent conservatives to show everyone they’re being responsible without being excommunicated.

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Of course, right about now every conservative is worried about what might get them branded an apostate. But c’mon, Republicans. This isn’t hard. Just be honest about the fact that you got vaccinated. The people who admire you will follow your lead, and we’ll all be better off for it.

Do it for your supporters. Do it for your country. History will thank you.

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