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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFox News' COVID denialism now threatens U.S. vaccine rollout -- but its roots are deeper
Fox News' COVID denialism now threatens U.S. vaccine rollout but its roots are deeper
Beyond Fox News or Trump, the GOP has a bone-deep antipathy to any collective attempt to extend a helping hand
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
FEBRUARY 24, 2021 2:30PM
(Salon) One of the great challenges for public health officials during the COVID pandemic has been establishing trust among the public, particularly racial minorities who have a long history of both exploitation and neglect by the medical establishment and the government. In recent months there has been a lot of discussion about how to get past vaccine hesitancy in this population with efforts at outreach and communication aimed directly at these communities. And thank goodness, after all, Black and brown Americans have been hit the hardest of all demographic groups aside from elderly residents of nursing homes. There has been an unconscionable number of deaths and serious illnesses in these communities so it's vital to get them the latest information, delivered by trusted messengers, as well as easy access to the vaccines.
The good news is that the vaccination program is quickly picking up steam, with Black and Hispanic vaccine skepticism specifically falling substantially over the past few months. There, of course, must be continuing efforts to get the word out and get vaccines in some of the hard-to-reach areas to encourage even more participation, but it now appears that a new group has arisen as the real barrier to achieving herd immunity: white Republicans.
Link to tweet
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The hosts of Fox News followed up their coverage of the memorial with their same COVID disinformation they've fed their viewers from the beginning. And they did this even after issuing a statement the same day insisting that they have always given accurate scientific information during the crisis. As Media Matters reported, on the night that America observed the horror of half a million COVID deaths, Laura Ingraham was insulting the head scientist at the National Institute of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, as an "ancient medical bureaucrat with a fancy title spewing lies or unprovable accusations." Ingraham took issue with Collins calling masks a "life-saving medical device." She later featured former Trump adviser Dr. Scott Atlas, a man with no expertise in epidemiology, who agreed with her about the uselessness of masks.
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When the pandemic hit and state governments and public health officials tried to marshall the people to work together to prevent the spread of the disease, once again the right-wing inexplicably rose up in protest, some even storming their statehouses, carrying guns, demanding they be "freed" from any requirement to follow measures designed to save lives. Today, they make up the largest group of vaccine resisters which, like rejecting Obamacare, will end up hurting themselves the most. ............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/02/24/fox-news-covid-denialism-now-threatens-us-vaccine-rollout--but-its-roots-are-deeper/
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Fox News' COVID denialism now threatens U.S. vaccine rollout -- but its roots are deeper (Original Post)
marmar
Feb 2021
OP
Initech
(100,027 posts)1. Fox News: the reason why we can't have nice things.
Dustlawyer
(10,494 posts)2. Tell these people to inform their surgical team to not wear masks next time they need surgery.
We have to do something about the propaganda that is ending our country. We are headed towards something even worse than January 6th if we do not require truth and outlaw intentional, outright lies in our media. Same for campaign finance.
Free speech can be restricted if there is a compelling governmental interest.