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Rounds: Coronavirus Vaccines Safe, Effective, and Necessary

Senator Mike Rounds doesn’t think he’s reached a “saturation level” in promoting coronavirus vaccines. Asked about vaccinated Senator Lindsey Graham’s covid diagnosis, Senator Rounds set with passionate clarity that we all need to get our shots:

I can just tell you that the one thing we need to send a message to the people is they need to get those vaccines. They are safe vaccines. Please get the vaccines. We know that there’s misinformation out there about the vaccines. But look; you got a heck of a lot better chance of surviving and keeping your loved ones safe if you get the vaccines and you get them for your loved ones as well. I’m vaccinated. My wife is vaccinated. Our family is vaccinated. And our kids are – our grandkids are being vaccinated as soon as they are of appropriate age. Please. This needs to be something that we accept, and we do it to protect our loved ones and ourselves [Senator Mike Rounds, interviewed by Mary Louise Kelly, “Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Makes It to Senate Floor,” NPR: All Things Considered, 2021.08.02].

We need to hear more messages like that from our elected leaders, not fewer. GET YOUR SHOTS!!!

Related Reshuffling: Senator Graham’s positive test and ten-day quarantine mean Senator John Thune gets to fill in for Graham on the Budget Committee.

12 Comments

  1. Porter Lansing 2021-08-03 11:02

    I’m going to the mountains on a little day trip, today.

    Wearing a mask, under my chin, to pull up when around strangers.

    The Delta variant outbreak is severe and chances are I’m a carrier.

    Chances are, so are you.

  2. John Dale 2021-08-03 13:28

    I figured we’d draw-out all the bad ideas before this was said and done. Rounds was being silent, but Mr. EB5 has made his choice. Interesting.

  3. Arlo Blundt 2021-08-03 13:59

    Well…the Senator, prior to government service, was an Insurance Agent. He understands risk and how to mitigate it.

  4. M 2021-08-03 14:31

    It’s about time Rounds spoke up about anything. I thought Thune was with Graham so he might have to quarantine.

  5. Mark Anderson 2021-08-03 14:56

    Rounds is totally correct, with no asides to the weak minded. Who knew? Its almost a soliloquy.

  6. mike from iowa 2021-08-03 16:09

    No apologies or mea culpas for being on the side that spreads all the false info around and then double and triple down on those lies? I don’t give him high marks for doing what should have been done last year. And never forget he voted to protect the head liar in both impeachment trial farces magats put on. And the BIG LIE!

  7. Joe 2021-08-03 17:14

    Paul Krugman on Ron DeSantis and “freedom”:

    “… when people on the right talk about “freedom” what they actually mean is closer to “defense of privilege” — specifically the right of certain people (generally white male Christians) to do whatever they want.

    Not incidentally, if you go back to the roots of modern conservatism, you find people like Barry Goldwater defending the right of businesses to discriminate against Black Americans. In the name of freedom, of course. A lot, though not all, of the recent panic about “cancel culture” is about protecting the right of powerful men to mistreat women. And so on.

    Once you understand that the rhetoric of freedom is actually about privilege, things that look on the surface like gross inconsistency and hypocrisy start to make sense.

    Why, for example, are conservatives so insistent on the right of businesses to make their own decisions, free from regulation — but quick to stop them from denying service to customers who refuse to wear masks or show proof of vaccination? Why is the autonomy of local school districts a fundamental principle — unless they want to require masks or teach America’s racial history? It’s all about whose privilege is being protected.

    The reality of what the right means by freedom also, I think, explains the special rage induced by rules that impose some slight inconvenience in the name of the public interest — like the detergent wars of a few years back. After all, only poor people and minority groups are supposed to be asked to make sacrifices.”

    “Freedom”, Florida, and the Delta Variant Disaster”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/02/opinion/Covid-Florida-vaccines.html

  8. Mark Anderson 2021-08-03 17:34

    Well, I would trade governor’s, DeSantis was a shortstop, like me and Kristi was a barrel rider wasn’t she? Although I’m still amazed that she hates the estate tax. It was Thomas Jeffersons proudest accomplishment. Just read his letters to Adam’s. Oh well, she wants the aristocracy back, all the pubs do.

  9. grudznick 2021-08-03 18:02

    All?

  10. mike from iowa 2021-08-03 18:03

    He understands risk and how to mitigate it. Didn’t he build a new home in a flood plain? And it flooded? Understanding risk doesn’t mean what it used to.

  11. Arlo Blundt 2021-08-03 19:32

    I’m not defending Mr. EB-5…I’m just saying that as an insurance man, getting vaccinated is a no-brainer.

  12. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2021-08-04 07:11

    Actually, M, Rounds expressed similar direct support for the coronavirus vaccine back in December:

    I have no concerns that the COVID-19 vaccine will be safe and effective. Tests show the Moderna vaccine is 94 percent effective and the Pfizer vaccine is 95 percent effective. These vaccines have gone through the same rigorous trials the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses to test all vaccines. Tens of thousands of people have received these vaccines while successfully participating in trials. By the time a vaccine reaches you, you can trust that it will have been put through numerous phases of clinical trials and be safe for you to take.

    Despite this success, concerns still continue to float around on social media about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, and in the weeks to come, I anticipate there will be plenty more disinformation floating around online. It’s important when we are making decisions that we take into account the validity of the source and only trust information that comes from reliable sources. The Centers for Disease Control and the FDA say this vaccine will be safe and efficient. I trust that information. Your doctor would also be a good source of information if you have uncertainties.

    I’ve said this before but it’s worth repeating: while we wait for the vaccine, it’s important to continue using common sense to fight this virus. Use hand sanitizer, wash your hands, keep your distance and wear your darn mask when it makes sense. But using common sense can only get us so far. Our lives will only get back to normal after a vaccine is widely distributed.

    Here’s the point – vaccines save lives. Vaccines eliminated smallpox worldwide. And they’ve eradicated polio and rubella from this country. Soon, we will be able to add COVID-19 to that list [Senator Mike Rounds, press release, 2020.12.11].

    With his wife’s immune system weakened by cancer and treatment, Senator Rounds can’t afford to play the vaccine-misinformation game.

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