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US Senator Ron Johnson told those who gathered for a town hall in northern Wisconsin on Friday that COVID-19 vaccines “are not as safe … and effective as we all hoped and prayed that” they are, “and said overwhelmed hospitals were not a sign of a health crisis.
The comments come two weeks after Wisconsin surpassed 8,000 pandemic deaths and just days after the US Department of Health and Human Services released a report suggesting vaccine use prevented 700 deaths in Wisconsin in the first five months of 2021 alone.
Johnson, who had an asymptomatic case of COVID-19 in 2020, said he had not received the vaccine. He has spent months amplifying conspiracy theories and drawing attention to rare cases of adverse reactions, as well as criticizing medical authorities who say there is no scientific evidence to support the use of the drug. drug Ivermectin as a prophylactic or early treatment of the disease.
Johnson’s Town Hall on Friday afternoon in the far north of Boulder Junction included brief talks on immigration, gerrymandering and climate change. But Johnson spent by far the most time during and after the event voicing his skepticism about the vaccine and his strong opposition to employer and government policies demanding it. He has dismissed accusations that his actions are undermining public confidence in the vaccine.
“‘Anti-vax’ is now derogatory,” Johnson said in a brief exchange with reporters after town hall. “It’s falsely thrown at people all the time. It’s like the worst thing you can be. I’ve had all the shots (except COVID-19).”
But Johnson as mayor has made numerous false or misleading claims about the drug, including that a federal database that records all health events experienced by the hundreds of millions of people who have been vaccinated shows that thousands of people died as a direct result of the vaccine. .
In fact, a new analysis from the Rural Policy Research Institute has found that death rates from COVID-19 in rural counties are now about double the rates in urban areas due to delayed vaccination rates in rural areas. American.
The room of about 150 people overwhelmingly supported the senator, offering breaks for applause and questions on favorite topics. The northern Wisconsin region voted overwhelmingly for former Republican President Donald Trump in 2020, and he won Vilas County by a 60-38 margin.
As Wisconsin saw a spike in new infections in August and September, some hospital systems were overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. As recently as this week, the Marshfield Clinic in central Wisconsin was packed to capacity.
Johnson said it was normal.
“A bad flu season will put stress, sometimes overwhelm hospitals in some areas. It happens all the time,” he said. “Just because this is happening with COVID doesn’t mean that there is a massive crisis in terms of our health care system.”
Two people interviewed at town hall said they had children who were at risk of being made redundant because of employers’ vaccination mandates. This included one who said his son was a military doctor “threatened with dishonorable discharge (and) withdrawing his medical license” for refusing to give or receive COVID-19 vaccines. On Thursday, Military.com reported that 92% of active duty members had received at least one dose of the vaccine.
“They threaten to ruin him if he doesn’t comply,” the interrogator said. “Yes or no, will you help him if they do that?” “
“Yes,” Johnson said.
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