(Headline USA) Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, questioned the need for widespread COVID-19 vaccinations, saying in a radio interview “what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?”
Johnson made the comments Thursday during an interview with conservative talk radio host Vicki McKenna.
Contrary to what the medical bureaucrats at government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise, Johnson has said he doesn’t need to be vaccinated because he had COVID-19 in the fall.
On Thursday, he went further, questioning why those who aren’t vulnerable would get vaccinated or worry about why others have not.
“For the very young, I see no reason to be pushing vaccines on people.” Johnson said. “I certainly am going to vigorously resist any kind of government use or imposing of vaccine passports. … That could be a very freedom-robbing step and people need to understand these things.”
Johnson’s comments come as government health bureaucrats in the U.S. and around the world urge people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as possible, claiming that reaching herd immunity is the best shot at stopping the spread of the virus.
Herd immunity occurs when enough people have been vaccinated or have immunity from natural infection that the virus can’t easily spread and the pandemic fizzles out.
Nobody knows for sure what the herd immunity threshold is for the coronavirus, but some government bureaucrats — who haven’t practiced daily treatment of patients in decades — claim it’s 70% or higher.
In Wisconsin, more than 41% of the population has received at least one shot of vaccine and roughly 30% has been fully vaccinated.
Johnson said he doesn’t think people should feel pressured to get vaccinated.
“The science tells us the vaccines are 95% effective, so if you have a vaccine quite honestly what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?” Johnson said. “What is it to you? You’ve got a vaccine and science is telling you it’s very, very effective.
“So why is this big push to make sure everybody gets a vaccine? And it’s to the point where you’re going to shame people, you’re going to force them to carry a card to prove that they’ve been vaccinated so they can still stay in society. I’m getting highly suspicious of what’s happening here.”
Vaccine passports are a heavy-handed intrusion into personal freedom and private health choices, and GOP lawmakers in a handful of states have passed or implemented policies to ban their use.
Johnson has not said yet whether he will seek a third term in 2022.
A number of Democrats have already announced they are running, including Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.
Nelson tweeted, without evidence, that Johnson’s “scientifically illiterate beliefs are deadly and will only prolong the Covid crisis. Time for a new Senator.”
Godlewski, also without evidence, blasted Johnson, saying he “is literally campaigning against widespread vaccines. His denial of science isn’t just irresponsible, it’s downright dangerous, and Wisconsinites deserve so much better.”
Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.
