Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) went to bat for the coronavirus vaccines on Tuesday, as distribution of doses continues on. The GOP leader offered praise for Operation Warp Speed, the vaccine development partnership between the private and public sectors spearheaded by the Trump administration, while encouraging Americans to register to receive the vaccine.
McConnell himself got the vaccine early-on and encouraged fellow Republican men to do the same, as speculation about effectiveness swirls.
"As a Republican man, as soon as it was my turn, I took the vaccine. I would encourage all Republican men to do that,” McConnell said at a vaccine distribution site in Kentucky. “Two of them are 90 percent effective. One of them is 70 percent effective, and I didn't realize until this pandemic began that the flu shot is only 50 percent effective, and a whole lot of people get the flu shot.”
It’s a modern medical miracle that three safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines were produced in less than one year. Thanks to hardworking Kentuckians at the McKesson facility in Shepherdsville, those vaccines are being distributed all across the country. pic.twitter.com/JZIxcWxJBu
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) March 30, 2021
McConnell’s comments follow a poll that found that 49 percent of Republican men would not receive the COVID vaccination. He emphasized that receiving the vaccine is not a partisan matter.
"So there's no good argument not to get the vaccination. I would encourage all men, regardless of party affiliation, to get the vaccination," he concluded.
The Biden administration continues to claim credit for the swift vaccine development, but a series of three individual vaccines to combat COVID would have been impossible without the Trump administration’s unique operation.
