McMaster should follow Trump’s example on COVID vaccine
The only mentions of the COVID-19 vaccines on Gov. Henry Mcmaster’s official Twitter account in the month of December revolve around the governor’s battle against vaccine mandates.
McMaster clearly opposes mandates, despite the fact that many bodies including the state’s schools require a host of immunizations, but wouldn’t South Carolinians be better served if the governor used his wide-reaching platform to simply encourage his constituents to take advantage of the vaccines that even former President Trump has touted as effective?
“Look, the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get (Covid), it’s a very minor form. People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine,” Trump said in a recent interview.
“The ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take their vaccine. But it’s still their choice, and if you take the vaccine, you are protected,” he said.
McMaster, who is vaccinated, Tweeted in April “To those who want a shot, get your shot!”
So as someone who is vaccinated and a longtime Trump supporter, McMaster should take full advantage of the former president’s words and use them to promote vaccinations among South Carolinians as a means of saving lives, reducing the need for hospital stays, easing the burden on medical professionals and inspiring optimism that normal life is right around the corner.
According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, 51.5% of all eligible South Carolinians are fully vaccinated. That percentage goes up to 56% for those ages 12 and up.
The agency’s data continues to show that incidents of hospitalization and death are considerably higher among the unvaccinated and that should be reason enough for the governor to do all in his power to promote vaccinations.
Whatever the final court rulings on mandates, we are still dealing with a virus that continues to disrupt lives and lead to many preventable deaths. So far, 14,550 South Carolinians have died as a result of the pandemic.
We urge Gov. McMaster to focus on the problem at hand and to use every weapon in his arsenal, including Trump’s own words, to increase South Carolina’s vaccination rate and save lives.