For various reasons

One front in the vaccine wars:

On July 22, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said: “It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” when asked why Alabama leads the nation in unvaccinated persons. “These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain. We’ve got to get folks to take the shot. The vaccine is the greatest weapon we have to fight COVID. There’s no question about that.”

So, of course, Team Antivax rushed to say what a monster she is.

State Auditor Jim Zeigler said: “What Gov. Ivey has forgotten – or never knew – is that those who are not vaccinated include a huge number who do not trust the government.  A governor pushing so hard for vaccinations makes those distrustful of government even less likely to take the vaccine.  Common sense is lacking here.”

I bet they trust the government when it’s Trump who stands for “the government” though. It’s not so much distrust of government as it is distrust of anyone who isn’t as stupid and pig-headed and irrational as Trump.

Dean Odle has announced he is challenging Ivey in the GOP primary. Odle is a Lee County pastor and school headmaster. Dean is not vaccinated and has been a vocal opponent of vaccination efforts.

“I believe the people of Alabama need to ask Governor Kay Ivey why she is pushing an experimental vaccine so hard and yet she stayed silent about the lifesaving, inexpensive treatments that were made known in March of 2020,” Odle charged.

There were no such treatments. That’s why 628,121 of us have died of the virus to date.

Former Morgan County Commissioner Stacy George is also running in the Republican primary for governor. George previously ran in the Republican primary for governor in 2014 against then-incumbent Gov. Robert Bentley.

“I thought it was really sad,” George said in response to Ivey’s comments. “I saw an angry governor this morning. She belittled a group of people today, and I say shame on the governor.”

“I am one of those non-vaccinated people that Governor Ivey was talking about,” George said, “I chose not to get the vaccine for various reasons. A governor should never belittle the people of Alabama, even the ones that disagree with her.”

What various reasons? What is this pleasing variety of reasons for not getting a vaccination to avoid a horrible disease with a high fatality rate? Better things to do, not feeling like it, cussedness, making a point? None of those are reasons for such a stupid destructive reckless refusal. If the school is on fire do you decide not to call 911 “for various reasons”? I’m guessing not, so why shrug off this best path out of the pandemic?

H/t Sackbut

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