For months, the White House, for fear of politicizing health issues, has refrained from criticizing Republican politicians who downplayed the importance of vaccines or tried to use the vaccine against the government.
But despite extensive vaccination, a gap is developing between Republican areas with vaccine skepticism and increasing infection and more democratic areas with high vaccination rates and lower infections.
Now the White House is firing back on politicians they believe are spreading harmful misinformation or fears about the vaccines.
When South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster this week tried to stop a door-to-door campaign for vaccination, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki did not put her finger in
– When they do not provide accurate health information, including about how effective vaccines are and how available they are around the country, including in South Carolina, they literally contribute to people dying. So maybe they should think about it, she said.
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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a law in June protecting businesses from being sued for covid-19 infection. But at the same time, he wants to stop a door-to-door operation to vaccinate people against covid-19. Foto: Jeffrey Collins / AP / NTB
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Growing gap
While 67 percent of adult Americans have received at least one dose , the authorities are increasingly concerned about the large geographical and political gap in the vaccination rate.
In democratic Massachusetts and Vermont, well over 70 percent of the population has received its first blow, while at the other end of the scale, poor and strongly Republican states such as Mississippi and Louisiana are below 40 percent.
The infection has decreased in the states of Washington and Maine, among others, while states such as Missouri and Arkansas are currently registering increasing infection.
Kansas is now reporting the fastest increase in infection in three months, especially along the Missouri border, where the delta variant has led to a sharp increase. At the same time, vaccination is slow in the two states due to widespread vaccine skepticism.
Arizona also reports the strongest increase in two months with 921 new cases in the last 24 hours while the virus is spreading among those who have not been vaccinated.
Get rid of the silk gloves
The White House took off its silk gloves after several Republican politicians criticized President Joe Biden for calling for door-to-door campaigns to persuade people to get vaccinated.
– Now we have to go from neighborhood to neighborhood, and often from door to door to help those who have not yet been vaccinated, to get their vaccine, he said on Tuesday.
But many Republicans objected and appealed to those in the party who want the least possible state.
Will ban door knocking
– The Biden administration will knock on your door to see if you have been vaccinated. What’s next? Knock on to see if you have a weapon? tweeted Congressman Jim Jordan from Ohio.
McMaster asked his health authorities to ban the door-knocking campaign, and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sent a letter to Biden condemning the strategy.
But such a door-to-door banking campaign has gone too far, although the White House is quick to point out that the criticism does not apply to all Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell and the governors of Arkansas and Ohio.
– The country is failing
But White House corona coordinator Jeff Zients has made it clear that those who spread disinformation are failing the country and the country’s doctors and others working to save lives and end the pandemic.
Psaki emphasized that it is not usually government employees who knock on doors, but local volunteers, including priests.
She pointed out that the strategy has contributed to increased vaccination in several places, including in Alabama with an increase of 3.9 percent vaccinated in June and in Florida with an increase of 4.4 percent.
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