Because white people who insist on remaining ignorant, unchallenged, and emotionally coddled must be centered at all times, in all places, people in the White House press corp are still questioning the "messaging" surrounding Pres. Joe Biden's push to increase the nation's vaccination rate against COVID-19.
Witness this jackass who asked Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre the following: "I wanted to ask about the communication strategy. You've been calling this the 'pandemic of the unvaccinated.' The 'pandemic of the unvaccinated.' But that's not really the case. Vaccinated people are getting it. They're spreading the virus. Even if they're not hospitalized, you know, why does the White House feel that calling it the 'pandemic of the unvaccinated' is effective?"
Do reporters intend to appear obtuse and unaware of what the word "pandemic" means? Do they not care they reveal themselves as grossly uninformed when they imply that breakthrough cases with mild symptoms are the same as severe cases from which unvaccinated folks are dying? Do they not realize that simply phrasing their questions more carefully would show that their goal is to help those ignorant, unchallenged, and emotionally demanding unvaccinated people see the error of their ways, rather than to appear that they're actually taking their side in what should not even be a debate?
Jean-Pierre showed this person exactly where his "misunderstanding" of the issue lay. She explained that breakthrough cases are rare, but vaccinated people who do contract the Delta variant can spread it. This is why the CDC guidance has changed regarding masks.
"[I]f people were to get vaccinated, then we would be in a better place to beat back the virus, including the Delta variant. And so we have to continue to make sure the unvaccinated are getting vaccinated....I mean, when we were talking about this two months ago, the Delta variant was at 1 percent -- at 1 percent!" Jean-Pierre told him "[W]e know for a fact it's easy to get that vaccine. It's free. It's accessible."
Yet most eligible people choosing not to get the vaccine are simply deciding to kill their fellow Americans with COVID instead. And this reporter is worried about offending them with the "messaging."
Jean-Pierre closed it out by reminding him that numbers matter. "[T]hat's why we're saying it is the pandemic of the unvaccinated, because that is why we're seeing this variant really taking over in hospitals right now. Hospitalization -- more than 97 percent are people who are not vaccinated."
97%. It's not a pandemic if you don't need hospitalization for it. It's not a pandemic if tens or hundreds of thousands aren't dying from it. Right now, the vaccine is free, available practically anywhere. Vaccinated people who contract Delta variant are not taking up hospital beds, nor are they dying from it. They may be spreading it, though, hence the new mask guidance. The wingers are screeching about that, too, but that's a post for another day.
