Colin Powell's death wrongly seized upon to undermine utility of coronavirus vaccines
He was the youngest chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the first Black American to become secretary of state. And in his prime, he was one of the most respected leaders in the country.
But within hours of the public announcement Monday that Colin L. Powell died of complications from covid-19 despite a full course of vaccination, some conservative officials and media personalities tried to make him something else: A prominent reason to doubt the coronavirus vaccines’ utility and question the political and health officials urging Americans to get them.
Tucker Carlson opened his prime-time Fox News program Monday evening by telling his viewers that Powell’s death shows that they’ve “been lied to” about the vaccines’ ability to quash the pandemic. “Vaccines may be highly useful for some people, but across the population, they do not solve covid,” Carlson said.
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Powell, who was 84 and immunocompromised, fit perfectly into a demographic that remains vulnerable to infections despite vaccination. His age puts him at a higher risk for covid-19, and he was battling a blood cancer that’s known to make vaccines less effective. He also suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
“He had two strikes against him already,” said Celine Gounder, an infectious-diseases specialist who was on President Biden’s covid advisory board during the transition, referring to Powell’s age and medical condition. “He was just not going to respond as well to the vaccines.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/high-profile-and-fully-vaccinated-but-immunocompromised-colin-powells-death-wrongly-seized-upon-to-undermine-utility-of-coronavirus-vaccines/ar-AAPGZAA
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Carlson pisses me off.
I don't even want to consider what the infection/death rate would be *without* the vaccines. And WTF is he suggesting as an alternative? All anti-vaxxers have are a range of treatment options that range from quackery to expensive pharmaceuticals that are effective but only useful ONCE YOU GET SICK. And Tucker regularly rages against mitigation measures like masks, social distancing, etc.
And Carlson is vaxxed and presumably has not gotten sick with COVID yet.
