National Guard administering COVID vaccination in Arizona
One of the saddest elements of the Coronavirus pandemic in the United States is the elevation of false and erroneous information in the media, including but not limited to social media such as Facebook. Much of this “fake news” is critical of COVID vaccination and precautions such as mask wearing. Some of it is politically motivated, for example, by people who don’t trust any government, or by right wingers who want to hurt Democratic leaders such as President Joe Biden and various Democratic state governors, who are largely proactive in fighting the pandemic.
As a result, the media information on COVID that many people access and then discuss with their friends, family and colleagues becomes “he said/she said,” featuring falsehoods on an even level with scientific evidence and truths. In such an environment, therefore, few things are more welcome than this news article from a few days ago (and since updated) in The Miami Herald:
Not just a number.’ COVID deaths pass 700,000 in U.S. amid vaccine refusal, delta variant
What distinguishes this article is that it’s an actual news article, not an opinion or editorial piece or comment, which places the blame for the recent 700,000 U.S. COVID death milestone squarely on the folks who refuse to get a COVID vaccine. After the jump are some choice excerpts and quotes from the article: