senator Lindsey Graham, Brought to Senate On the floor on Tuesday to encourage more of his voters to vaccinate, owing his own vaccination status to his relatively mild COVID-19 brush.
Republicans from South Carolina announced the adoption Twitter Last week, he tested positive for COVID-19. On Tuesday, I thanked the blessers of the Senate and took this opportunity to push more people in his state to get vaccinated.
“If you are not vaccinated, you need to be vaccinated with regard to the COVID problem,” he said. “I have been vaccinated, and I still contracted COVID anyway. It was very bad for a few days, but I did better, I feel better, and I am confident that if I have not been vaccinated, it will be much worse.”
Graham, the first senator to report a vaccinated breakthrough case of COVID-19, spoke directly with his voters in South Carolina, where vaccination rates lag behind other parts of the country.
“So in my state, about 50% of people are still not vaccinated. For the benefit of yourself and our state, I urge you to consider vaccinations,” he said. “I think the vaccine is safe and effective, and of course I am very happy that I have it. The sooner we get herd immunity through vaccination and other means, the better we will be.”
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Graham’s message about his relatively mild symptoms may be to address the high degree of hesitation of his voters about the vaccine, who may think that if a breakthrough case is possible, the vaccine will not “work.”
Although Graham self-quarantined last Thursday, he told the Associated Press that he had previously urged former President Trump to “be aggressive and say’vaccinate.'”
He compared vaccination with other “sacrifices” that Americans had to make.
“No one is required to fight against radical Islam or fight foreign enemies. We are required to make responsible medical decisions,” Graham said. “Bring the vaccine.”
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control, as of August 8, only 45.3% of eligible South Carolina residents were vaccinated. As of August 10, 58.8% of eligible people in the United States have received the full dose. The COVID-19 case rate and hospitalization rate are rising rapidly in South Carolina, which prohibits the wearing of masks statewide.
Graham also called the vaccine “an antidote to the virus that wreaked havoc on our hospital.”
Weekly newspaper Senator Graham was contacted for comments, but no response was received immediately.
