Just as Americans say they don’t approve of the president’s door-to-door sales pitch, the Biden administration is intensifying its pushback against COVID vaccine critics.
Officials from the White House have already begun to fire back at media and politicians who oppose government efforts to increase vaccination rates.
Groups allied to President Joe Biden, such as the Democratic National Committee plan to collaborate with phone carriers to combat texts and social media posts that don’t agree with the White House’s version. They also intend to help people with transportation problems get to vaccine sites. News Sites reported that they aim to remove obstacles to people accessing these sites, including misinformation via social media.
“We are steadfastly committed to keeping politics out of the effort to get every American vaccinated so that we can save lives and help our economy further recover,” White House spokesperson Kevin Munoz said. “When we see deliberate efforts to spread misinformation, we view that as an impediment to the country’s public health and will not shy away from calling that out.”
The White House has reacted to conservative critics of its door–to-door campaign. It said that it was not a plan for government officials to visit people’s homes and enforce vaccinations.
The administration says that local leaders who are trusted will participate in the effort and explain to residents why they should get the vaccine.
This new initiative is a reverse of previous efforts to ignore critics in the hope of not elevating them. The administration changed its tactics after Biden’s July 4, goal to have at least 70% of Americans vaccinated failed.
Vaccines, as well as mask-wearing, have been highly politicized with 10 of the least vaccinated states having been won by former President Donald Trump in November.
A recent Rasmussen poll showed that 53% of voters think it’s a bad idea for people to go “door to door – literally knocking on doors” to get people to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
