In a rare and almost heated moment White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Friday afternoon let loose on Republican governors spreading vaccine “disinformation” and attempting to derail efforts to end the coronavirus pandemic, warning them that their words are “literally killing people.”
“The failure to provide accurate public health information including the efficacy of vaccines, and the accessibility of them to people across the country,” Psaki said, “is literally killing people, so maybe they should consider that.”
Her remarks came in response to a reporter specifically citing South Carolina Republican Governor Henry McMaster, who has called for a ban on any attempt to go door-to-door to deliver coronavirus vaccine information.
“There’s still pushback about the President’s comments about going door-to-door to encourage vaccinations. The South Carolina governor said today that ‘enticing, coercing, intimidating, mandating, or pressuring anyone to take a vaccine was bad policy that will deteriorate the public trust and confidence in the state’s efforts,’ and Governor McMaster said he’s going to ‘prohibit the state health agency from using the administration’s targeted tactics.’ Can you respond to the governor and explain what it is that is being done and what is not being done in this outreach.”
Psaki went further, explaining President Biden’s plan to deliver information on vaccines by going door-to-door.
“I would say that what this is, and what is it is not – this is not federal employees going door-to-door. This is grassroots volunteers, this is members of the clergy, these are volunteers who believe that people across the country, especially in low-vaccinated areas should have accurate information, should have information about where they can get vaccinated, where they can save their own lives and their neighbors lives and their family members lives, that’s exactly what this is, it’s something that’s been going on since April, and it’s something where we’ve seen an impact in states where there are lower vaccination rates. So it is something we will continue to, to work with local groups to do, and it’s a disservice to the country and to the people who may lose their lives, who may lose family members, to provide inaccurate disinformation at a moment where we’re still fighting a pandemic.”
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