Not even MSNBC is defending President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party’s COVID response, with ultra-liberal host Mehdi Hasan blasting the commander-in-chief for his “spectacular and deadly” failure to encourage Americans to get booster shots.
Hasan weighed in while responding to a tweet from fellow leftist Taylor Lorenz, The Washington Post reporter currently under fire for revealing the identity of the woman behind the wildly popular Libs of TikTok Twitter account. Lorenz shared data indicating that nearly half to the Americans who died of COVID-19 in January and February of this year had been vaccinated and had suffered breakthrough cases.
“40% of US Covid deaths in Jan and Feb were vaccinated individuals who died from breakthrough cases. Vaccines are great, but they are not a magic bullet and leave millions vulnerable,” Lorenz shared.
40% of US Covid deaths in Jan and Feb were vaccinated individuals who died from breakthrough cases. Vaccines are great, but they are not a magic bullet and leave millions vulnerable. Very good reporting in this episode https://t.co/2JMsIWfwtc https://t.co/vzCXLJemRl
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) April 26, 2022
MSNBC columnist Michael Cohen added, “And as the KFF report makes clear many of these deaths would have been prevented with booster shots. That’s the message that Americans need to be hearing … not that vaccines don’t protect them. They do.”
That was when Hasan jumped into the conversation, taking an apparent shot at the moves being made — even within the Biden administration — to treat the pandemic as though the danger has passed.
“Agree re the importance of boosters but I’m pretty sure that the best way to get more people boosted is NOT to pretend the pandemic is over, that Covid is mild like the flu, and everything and everyone should just ‘get back to normal’ asap,” he said.
Agree re the importance of boosters but I’m pretty sure that the best way to get more people boosted is NOT to pretend the pandemic is over, that Covid is mild like the flu, and everything and everyone should just ‘get back to normal’ asap. https://t.co/zLZb9INHjD
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 26, 2022
“The best way to get people boosted is to tell people to get boosted,” Cohen agreed.
Hasan then turned his frustration on Biden and other Democrats directly, accusing them of ignoring the need for a broader campaign to push boosters on the American public.
“I don’t disagree. The lack of a major nationwide wall to wall booster campaign and messaging strategy from Biden and the Dems has been a spectacular and deadly failure, sadly. Our booster rates are shamefully low compared to other Western countries,” he said.
I don’t disagree. The lack of a major nationwide wall to wall booster campaign and messaging strategy from Biden and the Dems has been a spectacular and deadly failure, sadly. Our booster rates are shamefully low compared to other Western countries. https://t.co/UK8YNrlsJ0
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 26, 2022
Hasan is not alone in lamenting the low booster rates in the United States. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine suggested that, since New York City officials had the personal contact information for those who had at least begun the vaccination process, they could easily mount a door-to-door campaign to push boosters.
We have name, address, email etc for all 3.4M NYers who got their first vax but not their booster.
Steps NYC should be taking NOW to reach them:
* Send them a pre-made appt at vax site in their neighb
* Contact them through live callers & door knocks
* Reinstate $100 incentive— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) April 24, 2022
“We have name, address, email etc for all 3.4M NYers who got their first vax but not their booster. Steps NYC should be taking NOW to reach them: * Send them a pre-made appt at vax site in their neighb * Contact them through live callers & door knocks * Reinstate $100 incentive,” Levine suggested.