Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox expressed regret on Sunday about the “deeply disturbing” political polarization in the United States, saying that partisan bias has hindered the state’s vaccination rates and other efforts to contain the virus.
“Politics is becoming the religion of our country,” Cox said CBS‘ Face the country“In our country, politics is becoming sports and entertainment. Everything is politics. This is a huge mistake, and it causes us to make wrong decisions during this pandemic and other stages of our lives. This is deeply deeply rooted. Feeling uneasy.”
In May, Biden set a benchmark for fully vaccinating 160 million adults and ensuring that 70% of adults receive the first dose before July 4, but the country is at least a few weeks away from the target. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 149 million adults are now fully vaccinated, and approximately 66.7% have received at least the first shot.
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a new one Washington post-ABC News poll shows that people have strong resistance to vaccines Republicans, Only 45% said they received the first dose, while 86% said they received the first dose Democratic Party. Twenty states—including California, Delaware, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania—have reached Biden’s 70% target, but Utah, a conservative state, has a proportion of young people Very high, lower than the national average of 64%.
The findings were released on the occasion of the President’s warning Joe Biden And Dr. Anthony Fauci The Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, is more contagious than other variants and poses a greater threat to the unvaccinated population.
US surgeon Vivek Mersey warned on Friday that the Delta variant “almost every two weeks” and will continue to spread rapidly in areas with low vaccination rates. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that it is estimated that 25% of all active COVID-19 cases are caused by the mutation.
Cox expressed concern about this threat and called on people who are skeptical of vaccines to “vaccinate immediately.” He added: “It’s very simple and easy. These are deaths that don’t have to happen, hospitalizations that don’t have to happen.”
Fauci appeared on National Broadcasting Corporationof Meet the media On Independence Day, warned that areas with low vaccination rates may have virus peaks. He also urged conservatives and anti-vaccineists to “set aside their differences” and get vaccinated.
He said: “We are dealing with the historical situation of this epidemic, and we do have the tools to deal with it.” “So for God’s sake, set aside all these differences and realize that the common enemy is this virus. , And we do have a tool to fight this virus, an efficient tool.”
Weekly newspaper Contacted Cox’s office for further comments. This story will be updated with any response.
