Poliomyelitis, the disease known as polio, had been around since ancient times, crippling and killing children and adults in recurring waves. In 1952, the United States recorded 58,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths. Three years later–on April 12, 1955–the University of Michigan announced that a vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk was shown through a field trial involving 440,000 Americans to be successful. It was the culmination of a $7.5 million project of the the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later known as the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.
Eleven days after the announcement, President Dwight Eisenhower in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House praised Salk as a “benefactor of mankind.” The government announced “sufficient supplies of the drug would be available within four months to give ‘Salk shots’ to all children under 10,” according to a UPI dispatch at the time, “and that there will be ‘enough for everybody, everywhere in the United States’ by January 1.”
Congress at the time was divided along nearly identical lines as today: 232 Democrats, 203 Republicans (it’s 224 Democrats, 214 Republicans today). The Senate had 48 Democrats and 47 Republicans, with one independent (it’s 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats today). Congress in 1955 was pushing Eisenhower to take over all controls of the polio vaccine rollout. There was little controversy about government’s role, and little division between federal, state and local authorities.
On May 31, 1955, in a statement to the nation, Eisenhower outlined the benefits of the vaccine–which “was found to be 60 to 90 percent–not 100 percent–effective in the field trials last year,” he said–and addressed recent delays in the rollout, though over 5 million children in first and second grade had been vaccinated. He pledged that the rollout would “continue to proceed in a fair and orderly manner,” prioritizing children, and ordered states to provide plans for distribution to the federal government to ensure they were moving accordingly.
Eisenhower hinted that, absent continued cooperation, he would order more government controls, including legislating the vaccine. But since cooperation was the order of the day, that did not appear necessary: “The program will operate in a sure and orderly way, given the full cooperation of the State officials, the manufacturers, the distributors, the medical profession, and the people of the Nation,” the president said. “I am confident that the program will receive that support. For these reasons I do not believe that regulatory legislation in this field is necessary.”
The rollout had some setbacks: that same year, as Lawrence Wright writes in “The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid” (Knopf 2021), “more than 200,000 American children received a polio vaccine containing a live virus that had not been properly inactivated; 40,000 of them got polio, 200 were paralyzed, and 10 died. The legacy of that awful disaster led to more effective government oversight of vaccines, but it also generated a flood of lawsuits that caused many pharmaceutical companies to back away from vaccine development. A heroic international effort over decades has led to the point that this incurable disease is on the verge of extinction.”
By 1969, the United States reported zero deaths from polio. The country has been polio-free since 1979, according to the Centers for Disease Control. By 1995, the year of Salk’s death, polio was on the verge of eradication worldwide.
On Sep. 9, President Biden ordered sweeping vaccination requirements for the coronavirus for federal employees and contractors and employees of companies of 100 people or more. The order has not been well received by Republican governors.
Following is the full text of Eisenhower’s statement to the nation in 1955.
I would like to issue the following statement about the polio vaccine situation. The last week has been both eventful and encouraging.
A committee of scientists is now screening polio vaccine before it is released for public use. The Surgeon General of the Public Health Service tells me that it is hoped to release some vaccine within a few days. Batches of vaccine must pass the most careful tests that scientists can devise and be as safe and effective as man can make the vaccine.
According to Dr. Francis’ report on last year’s field tests, the child who was vaccinated had a three times better chance of avoiding polio than the child who was not vaccinated.
There has been delay in the vaccination program. But remember-we are dealing in this field with the lives of our children and our grandchildren. Because of scientific work that was done during that delay science has learned new things about the way viruses behave in large scale manufacture and about the way we should make vaccine. Scientists have been able to design testing techniques of greater sensitivity and production techniques which build in a greater factor of safety and additional checks on the final product. So from that delay science has gained new knowledge, new safeguards.
I want to caution the people of our nation about two things:
First: No vaccination program can prevent all cases of the disease against which it is directed. Let us not forget that Dr. Francis reported the polio vaccine as used in the 1954 field trial was found to be 60 to 90 percent–not 100 percent–effective in the field trials last year.
Second: Although the manufacturers are now moving toward full scale production and distribution of this vaccine, it will take them varying periods of time to “retool” to meet the revised production standards. During the months immediately ahead we must be patient while our limited supply of vaccine is used first to help protect those who need it most.
Every parent and every child should be grateful to those scientists who have been working without rest and without relief during recent weeks to find answers to the problems that caused the delay. They have found these answers and another battle in the continuing fight against polio has been won.
DISTRIBUTION
Since April 12 the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis has been furnishing free vaccine for children in the first and second grades, and for children in the third grade who participated in the field tests of vaccine last year. More than 5½ million children have been vaccinated–including one of my grandchildren, a first grader. This free vaccination program is the initial method for getting the vaccine to our children. No vaccine is now being distributed in any other way.
Sufficient vaccine to complete the Foundation’s program should be released within 60 days. Until it is finished all vaccine produced will go to the Foundation.
The fact that some children do not get their second injection promptly will not reduce the effectiveness of the first injection. Dr. Salk, himself, stated last week that the level of immunity developed by the first injection would last many months.
DISTRIBUTION WHEN THE FOUNDATION PROGRAM IS COMPLETED
As soon as the Foundation program is completed, distribution must continue to proceed in a fair and orderly manner. The Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare presented to me two weeks ago a sound plan for the distribution of the vaccine. I promptly endorsed that plan and made it public.
Briefly the voluntary control plan for distribution will work as follows:
1. Priorities. The vaccine must be used first for those most susceptible to polio. Not only is this just, but also by reducing the incidence of the disease among those most likely to get it we increase the protection for all of us. The National Advisory Committee on Poliomyelitis Vaccine and the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare have recommended that the vaccine be administered first to children of the ages of 5 to 9, inclusive.
I strongly endorse this recommendation and call upon our people to adhere strictly to the age 5 to 9 priority during the months ahead. No person not in the 5 to 9 age group should be vaccinated until the children of these age groups have received two vaccinations. The doctors of the country, through the American Medical Association, have pledged their support of these priorities.
The age group of second priority will be established and announced in due course.
2. Output of the Manufacturers. Each of the manufacturers of the vaccine has individually agreed to distribute his entire output of vaccine in accordance with this overall plan adopted by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare on the recommendation of the National Advisory Committee.
3. Allocation to States. The Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare will compile reports on the total output of the manufacturers and allocate the vaccine to each State on the basis of its population of unvaccinated children within the 5 through 9 age group, and subsequently, for other age groups.
4. State Responsibility. The States will advise the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare as to their general plans for distribution of the vaccine and, specifically, their shipping instructions for manufacturers. This information then will be transmitted to the manufacturers.
5. Vaccination Programs. To assure that no child is denied vaccination by reason of its cost, some states and localities may operate mass free public vaccination programs for all children.
Other states may provide free vaccination only for children whose parents are unable to pay, through clinics, schools and preschool programs, or by furnishing free vaccine to private physicians. In those States, a portion of the State allocation of vaccine will flow into normal drug distribution channels for the exclusive use of children in the priority age brackets–to be administered by family doctors.
To assist the States in providing free vaccinations, I have recommended that the Congress enact legislation making $28 million available to the States for the purchase of vaccine. This legislation is now being considered by the appropriate Committees of the Congress and I urge its immediate adoption.
6. Keeping of Records. Doctors, as well as all manufacturers and distributors of the vaccine, will keep records of the vaccine they handle. Cooperation to this end has been pledged by the doctors, the manufacturers and the distributors.
This plan for distribution of the vaccine can go into effect as soon as the free vaccination program of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis is completed. Under it, the Federal Government will assume responsibility for the equitable allocation of the vaccine among the States, and the States will assume responsibility for the direction of distribution within their borders.
The program will operate in a sure and orderly way, given the full cooperation of the State officials, the manufacturers, the distributors, the medical profession, and the people of the Nation. I am confident that the program will receive that support.
For these reasons I do not believe that regulatory legislation in this field is necessary.
We all hope that the dread disease of poliomyelitis can be eradicated from our society. With the combined efforts of all, the Salk vaccine will be made available for our children in a manner in keeping with our highest traditions of cooperative national action.
Dwigh Eisenhower was President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
Rxx says
Well to be fair this was back when America actually cared about children.
Steve Naso says
President Eisenhower had a solid plan without unconstitutional mandates. One would think that president biden could do the same. Instead, he is doing the opposite. Has president biden lost his mind? Instead, he has implemented a plan that could potentially destroy our constitutional rights and nation. Please stop the insanity.
Kat says
In dealing with the polio virus, when the vaccine became available mandates were not needed because Americans at that time behaved much differently. A photograph or personal interaction with a person in an iron lung was pretty good incentive. You would think knowing or seeing people with a tube stuffed down their throat and being kept alive on a ventilator would have a similar effect. With the COVID-19 virus, the American people were given eight months to get vaccinated at the time and place of their choosing and failed to do so in sufficient enough quantity to bring the pandemic under control. As long is there is a large enough pool of unvaccinated people for the virus to continue infecting them, the virus will continue to mutate and become more and more difficult to control. Now you might say, that if people choose to put themselves at risk then they should be allowed to do so but it’s not affecting only the unvaccinated people. It is largely that population that becomes desperately ill, clogging up our medical system, and making it impossible for other people with other conditions to get proper care. Let’s also factor in the actual financial cost for all of their medical care, aftercare, and long-term disability when they have long Covid syndrome. President Biden did a damn good job of getting the vaccine distributed and available, when his predecessor had no plan at all and didn’t even cooperate with the incoming administration. He also did it despite having had a lack of cooperation at the state and local levels in many locations.
Coyote says
Kat,
.Please imagine that there is a picture here of a ‘Thumbs-Up’ approval :)
Ray W. says
If every so-called conservative politician would spend approximately four seconds every day to say: “Please schedule your Covid-19 vaccination today”, President Biden would not ever have to consider any mandate, just as President Eisenhower did not have to resort to executive order or federal legislation, as the article points out. Nonetheless, President Eisenhower “hinted” at such federal actions.
As for the constitutionality of President Biden’s executive orders, please remember that the law is what a judge says on the day he or she says it, and don’t ever forget it. This lesson was imparted to me by my father before I entered law school. He told me that one of his first year law professors addressed the entire classroom with what the professor described as one of the most important lessons that all law students needed to learn. Steve Naso should take this lesson to heart; it has withstood the test of time.
Steve Naso, who doesn’t identify himself as a judge, will not ever decide what is constitutional or unconstitutional. When a judge issues a ruling that an executive order mandating vaccinations for certain groups of people is unconstitutional, then Steve Naso can say it is unconstitutional. Until then, he is just talking to hear his head roar.
TryAgain says
Do some research before you post. Google is your friend. The Supreme Court has consistently ruled in favor of vaccine mandates over the years. It’s not un-constitutional. It falls under OSHA actually and no one is forcing anyone to get a vaccine. If you work for an employer with more than 100 employees and choose not to vaccinate then you need weekly testing. If your employer requires it then that’s on the private business. If the Bahamas require vaccine passports to enter the country, that’s their right. If France doesn’t want unvaccinated Americans that’s their right. If your don’t want to get vaxxed, it’s still your right, no one is holding you down, and when it comes to your employer, everyone in this state works at will. If your employer tells you that you have to wear all blue and never take a dump in office and you violate those rules they can fire you. You have no personal recourse in that regard. The Constitution is everyone’s go to when they feel they’ve been wronged. If you read the actual document, perhaps you’ll understand it’s not as “free” as you think.
I was “forced” to vaccinate in order to attend school. I received over a dozen vaccinations before first grade. I’m still alive. I’m not autistic. I have no health issues from any of those vaccines. I still have my immunization records. I couldn’t go to college without receiving another set of vaccinations. Again, I didn’t die nor have any ill effects. It was vaccinate or forgo my scholarship. Biden wasn’t POTUS then and we didn’t have COVID and no one screamed how unfair it was to tie a scholarship to vaccinations, I just did it because it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, not for something as silly as not wanting vaccines.
In matters of public health, the Supreme Court has always ruled in regards to saving lives. Biden is acting within his rights to save lives. The Supreme Court will agree as they have many times before. Besides he still allowed for individual bodily autonomy by saying you don’t have to get vaccinated if you test at least once a week (again applicable only for people working at an employer with over 100 employees or specific Federal companies/contractors). Biden, however, has no control over how a business interprets his statement. Many started enacting mandates long before Biden even opened his mouth. Delta was going to charge unvaccinated people $200 a month surcharge. That was their decision. Their employees didn’t scream “The Constitution!” Within 2 weeks of Delta’s mandate, 40% of the unvaccinated went out and got their vaccines. No one quit.
My employer said we all had to get vaccinated long before Biden said anything. So rather than lose my 6-figure job, I got the vaccine and wow, not dead yet. I had a sore arm, big whoop. I had a slight fever after the second, call in the brigade. People have gone to work practically on their death beds while infectious with heavens knows what, what’s a little 99-100 degree fever for a day while your immune system is firing up getting ready to save your life?
Know what shouldn’t be allowed? Hospitals full of unvaccinated COVID patients that keep heart patients, cancer patients, and others from receiving emergency life-saving treatment. That’s selfishness of the highest order. “I don’t want your poisonous vaccine but now I’m sick so you gotta fix me. Give me anything. Everything. I’ll even take something less tested than the vaccine in Regeneron and give my governor and Gregg Abbott a monetary kick back.” I mean give me a break. They should place all of them in field hospitals leaving the actual beds and rooms for others that need them. Yeah, it’s come to that in my mind. If they are so callous, careless, selfish, and hateful, I have zero patience or tolerance for them anymore. You lose your “freedumb” rights when you keep infringing on the rights of others because if you think constitutionality only applies to you and your wants, you’re sadly mistaken. Presidents from George Washington all the way through to now Joe Biden have always acted in the best interest of public health with the Supreme Courts blessing. Read the document before you claim to know what it’s about.
Toto says
Yes, stop the insanity! Let it begin with YOU 😡 Steve naso , you.
Alan G. Orlowsky says
Really??? Mandating a shot is going to destroy our constitutional rights??? That’s ridiculous! You and me and everyone else has a duty to our family, friends, neighbors and the deliveryman to get vaccinated and wear a mask if asked to! This is called citizenry. If you are drafted you go to war and put your life on the line. Certainly, getting a shot isn’t asking much, since it could save your life and perhaps others around you!
Charlie Ericksen Jr says
I believe that if you review all the history on “”Polio shots”, you will find the the first one’s in the USA , was a SABIN shot.. It did not last long and all of US ( yes , me) then, had to go back and get the SALK shot. Which worked. One of the shots was a drop on a cube of sugar, and the other was a needle shot..Lots of confusion, but the second one worked.. Check it out…
Jane Elizabeth K says
Apparently this was a kinder, gentler society and a much more intelligent one. People cared about each other. Something lacking in Americans today. We all came together after the tragedy of 9/11. I only wish we could all come together in a more compassionate and unified way today. Please get vaccinated . Be smart and patriotic!
Agree 100% says
That’s exactly right. My thoughts exactly as I watched 9/11 tributes this weekend. I remembered a time when Americans showed themselves strong, resilient, and unified after the unthinkable. Today we are ripping our own country apart in the name of autonomy and personal preference. Fighting over fabric on our faces and screaming at school board members. Breaks my heart to be honest. A lot has certainly changed in twenty years. Praying for unity in our country, that we can come together once again to fight this virus. Our children are watching and we can do better. We have shown before that we can overcome anything when we work together.
Kat says
Sadly, it’s beyond my comprehension that those who hold elected office at this time have no interest in working together to protect their citizens. Not only are the elected people not interested in protecting their citizens, but ordinary Americans don’t seem to be interested in protecting each other.
Instead of pulling together to minimize the cost in terms of human life, health, and damage to the economy-we have a large number of people who believe that their individual freedoms outweigh those of the greater community in which they are a part (Unless you are a pregnant woman- if so you have ceased to become an individual and have been reduced to an incubator with no rights of self determination). In modern day America, fetuses are apparently far more important than children who have actually been born and attend school. It is completely ludicrous that people won’t wear a mask to protect each other or their very own children!
Can you imagine if America today behaved in the same manner as America under the Eisenhower administration? We would be well on our way to eradicating Covid instead of moving backwards in terms of getting a handle on the pandemic. It seems to me that there are a great number of people who have no sense of civic duty, it’s in large part those are the same people who also have no grasp on basic civics.
Perhaps if the Covid pandemic had occurred in close relation to the horrific events of September 11, there would have been a much greater spirit of cooperation among Americans.
Veronica J.S. Crouchintern, MSW says
Whatever happened to ‘MY BODY, MY CHOICE” ?
I remember Vice President Harris, saying before the election that she wouldn’t get the vaccine because she doesn’t trust it.
In NYC scores of nurses have resigned their positions at NY Hospital over the “mandate” .
Their are even reports that the vaccine mandate unfairly targets minorities.
So many different opinions.
Pogo says
@FlaglerLive
Bart Simpson pranking Moe on the phone was funny — the first time.
Veronica J.S. Crouchintern, MSW — not so much:
https://www.google.com/search?d&q=Veronica+J.S.+Crouchintern
The explanation for why there is a “Veronica J.S. Crouchintern, MSW” is well known:
https://www.google.com/search?q=malevolence+stupidity
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
— 1 Corinthians 13:11-13, KJV
Vincent Lang says
Wow, Pogo touched a nerve ? You can ridicule and make as many biblical quotes you want it doesn’t change the truth of what Ms Crouchenstern, pointed out. All of her points are documented
1. MY BODY MY CHOICE !, (Has been the rallying cry for the pro abortion lobby for years.
2. VP Kamala Harris in September of 2020 stated that she wouldn’t get the vaccine because she said she didn’t trust it then she used an “antivax” stance as a campaign statement to erode confidence in President Trump. Well the formula didn’t change and what do you know she got it. The damage was already done.
3. Scores of NYC nurses resigned from NY Hospital over the Presidents “VAX MANDATE” this just happened a few days ago.
4. Why is it that less than 44 % of the African American population are “VAXED” ? Was it because of point # 2 ?
Pogo, you can go on quoting biblical passages that have no bearing on this. The fact still remains the Biden / Harris ticket sowed the seeds of fear and mistrust about the vaccine in order to win an election. Funny thing is they both made sure they both got a shot themselves and made special arrangements for their families. Now the President feels “ORDERING” the population and using extortion methods against employers is the way to go.
HERES AN IDEA START PUTTING OUT LISTS OF ALL THE CELEBRITIES WHO HAVE RECEIVED VAXES AND PRODUCE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMERCIALS DURING ONE OF THOSE RIDICULOUS AWARDS PROGRAMS SHOWING WHICHEVER “FLASH IN THE PAN” CELEBRITY DESPERATELY SEEKING ATTENTION GETTING A “VAX”. ELVIS DID IT ON NATIONAL TV WITH A POLIO VAX AND IT CONVINCED MILLIONS OF AMERICANS TO GET IT.
Pogo, it would throw in some appropriate quotes which would have no bearing on this conversation like you did to this posters comment but I take this a little bit more serious.
Pogo says
@Pointing out that a troll was a troll:
https://www.google.com/search?d&q=Veronica+J.S.+Crouchintern
Reading is fundamental:
In internet slang, a troll is a person who posts inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses, or manipulating others’ perception. Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll
@Vincent Lang
Your complaint ought be with “Veronica J.S. Crouchintern, MSW” — whatever that is. You are no more real, as far as I can tell.
Read your own words. Wow indeed. Maybe this will help:
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I
became a man, I put away childish things.
— 1 Corinthians 13:11, KJV
Dolores says
Who were the first people who demonized getting the COVID vaccine?
Sherry says
Not to confuse the outraged FOX cult with credible FACTS. . . vaccination mandates are NOT completely unconstitutional. While much of the “power” of mandates is at the state and local level, in fact, the federal government has some responsibility and authority to keep us safe:
At a federal level, the vaccine mandate question is more complicated. With few exceptions, the CRS says there are no laws that allow the federal government to issue a vaccine mandate to the general population. These exceptions include requiring proof of vaccination for immigrants requesting permanent resident status and vaccine mandates for military service members—allowing for certain exemptions. Recently, President Joe Biden ordered federal employees and contractors to attest to getting vaccinated or undergo weekly testing and other safety protocols.
According to the CRS, several federal vaccine mandate actions are theoretically possible. The Executive Branch could cite Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (or PHSA), which allows the Department of Health and Human Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to make necessary measures “to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the States or possessions, or from one State or possession into any other State or possession.”
Under the Constitution’s Spending Clause, Congress could provide financial incentives for states to enact mandates. It could also regulate vaccine requirements related to interstate travel under the Commerce Clause. But any federal actions to enforce or incentivize vaccine mandates may face legal challenges based on the 10th Amendment’s prohibition on commandeering or forcing states to use their own resources to carry out federal policies.
In addition, several federal laws allow for vaccine exemptions for employees based on religious beliefs (under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) and disability status (under Title 1 of the Americans with Disabilities Act). The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission confirmed these exemptions in May 2021. “Federal EEO laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, so long as employers comply with the reasonable accommodation provisions of the ADA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other EEO considerations,” the commission said in a statement.
Sherry says
@Veronica. . . Please do try and disconnect from the FOX BS. . . Please just STOP with the lame deception and half truths! Here is what Vice President Harris actually said. . . and, she was absolutely right, trust the medical professionals:
Sen. Kamala Harris of California said during Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate with Vice President Mike Pence that she does not trust the administration’s push to rush a coronavirus vaccine into production.
“If the public health professionals, if Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I’ll be the first in line to take it. Absolutely,” Harris said during the live debate in Salt Lake City, when she was asked if Americans should take a vaccine, if the Trump administration were to approve one either before or after the election. “But if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it. I’m not taking it.”
Regarding “My Body, My Choice”. . . Again, another FOX BS talking point. . . My “choice” to have an abortion does NOTHING to you. . . NOTHING! However, if you choose to remain un-vaccinated from a “highly contagious”, deadly virus. . . and, you do not strictly quarantine/correctly wear a high quality mask in public, “YOU” are putting “MY” health at a greater risk of illness. “YOU” and others like you are “choosing” to keep us from reaching herd immunity and therefore getting our nation back to some semblance of normal.
Please, please, take back your own thinking and moral code. Do your own research of what the medical professionals say. . . away from FOX/Facebook/OAN/Newsmax. Do find credentialed facts on outlets like AP, BBC, PBS and even NBC, ABC, etc. Veronica, you are missing vital information that just may safe your life. Please get vaccinated. . . do the right thing for us all.
Sherry says
Excellent post Tryagain. . . Thanks so much for sharing your personal story!
Hopkins says
The original polio vaccine actually gave 40,000 children polio!! They forgot to mention that! Look up the polio cutter incident. Then the oral Salk vaccine in the 80s-90s was also responsible for giving children polio as well, but you’ll hear no mention of this when doing their comparisons.
Sherry says
Here is a summary of the latest vaccine poll:
There’s a clear ideological divide when the mandate question is asked generically …
— Forty-one percent say that government mandates to receive a Covid-19 vaccine “violate the rights of Americans,” while 46% say such mandates “protect the rights of Americans.”
Despite that close divide, President JOE BIDEN’s specific mandate policies get higher marks …
— Requiring all employers with 100 or more employees to mandate Covid-19 vaccinations or weekly testing: 58% support, 36% oppose
— Requiring federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated for Covid-19, without an option to opt out through regular testing: 57% support, 36% oppose
— Requiring most U.S. health care workers to get vaccinated for Covid-19, without an option to opt out through regular testing: 60% support, 34% oppose
The 25 percenters are dug in …
— A quarter of the country seems committed to the anti-vax and anti-mandate cause. A quarter are unvaccinated, and roughly a quarter “strongly oppose” all four of the Biden policies we tested.
America’s ability to break the back of the pandemic will be determined by how long the 25 percenters hold out.
JimBob says
…or maybe over time as the virus continues to mutate that 25% are eradicated from the gene pool, like the five conservative pundits lost in the recent time frame.
Sherry says
@ Hopkins. . . perhaps more than just a “scare sentence” is in order here. . . how about some context which indicates that 200,000 received the vaccine, and only 200 (of the 40,000) had symptoms, and tragically 10 perished:
In April 1955 more than 200 000 children in five Western and mid-Western USA states received a polio vaccine in which the process of inactivating the live virus proved to be defective. Within days there were reports of paralysis and within a month the first mass vaccination programme against polio had to be abandoned. Subsequent investigations revealed that the vaccine, manufactured by the California-based family firm of Cutter Laboratories, had caused 40 000 cases of polio, leaving 200 children with varying degrees of paralysis and killing 10.
Paul Offit, pediatrician and prominent advocate of vaccination, sets the `Cutter incident’ in the context of the struggle of medical science against polio and other infectious diseases over the course of the 20th century. He reminds us that, within a decade of Karl Landsteiner’s identification of the polio virus in 1908, an epidemic in New York killed 2400 people (mostly children) and left thousands more with a life-long disability. In the 1950’s, summer outbreaks in the USA caused tens of thousands of cases, leaving hundreds paralyzed or dead. `Second only to the atomic bomb’, polio was `the thing that Americans feared the most’.
Sherry says
@ Vincent Lang. . . my message to Veronica goes to you as well.
Posting FOX BS propaganda on this site “should” be beneath all honest, upstanding people. Take a moment to read what Vice President Harris “actually said” instead of believing what the FOX talking heads told you to believe. Take a moment to “think” about the difference between the personal choice of a “woman” controlling her own body, versus those who endanger others by refusing to get an approved vaccine against a “highly contagious” lethal virus.
“Think” for yourself instead of posting more and more FOX/Facebook/OAN/Newsmax GARBAGE!
Sherry says
Take a moment to let the “MASSIVE COST” of health care for those who still remain un-vaccinated sink in. . . read and “think” about this 3.7 BILLION in August alone! That is MORE than the cost of President Biden’s complete Climate Change and “human infrastructure” plan!
This updated analysis for the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker estimates that the preventable costs of treating unvaccinated patients in hospitals total $3.7 billion in August, almost twice the estimates for June and July combined.
Here is the link, if you would like to study the detailed analysis:
https://www.kff.org/
A.j says
Your body your decision. I have heard Dr’s have said pts. said they wish they would have taken the vaccine getting ready to die. I believe Fox News mandate their employees get the vaccine. Again it is your decision.
cgm says
it wasn’t a messenger RNA (mRNA) SHOT!
lets see what the side effects are messing with your DNA are in 5-10 years down the line!