'It’s time to make life a living hell for anti-vaxxers,' Washington Post columnist writes



A Washington Post columnist lambasted the vaccine-hesitant and praised French President Emmanuel Macron in a Tuesday piece titled, "Macron is right: It’s time to make life a living hell for anti-vaxxers."

What are the details?

James McAuley, global opinions contributing columnist for the Post, recounted Macron's headline-grabbing statements from last week in which he said he intended to push the unvaccinated out of public life in France until they get the jabs.

"The unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And so, we're going to continue doing so, until the end. That's the strategy," Macron told newspaper Le Parisien in an interview, Reuters reported.

McAuley seemed to enjoy Macron's actual word choice, noting that "the English translation hardly does the comment justice. In French, the verb he used is 'emmerder,' which means, quite literally, to cover in excrement."

He soon added that Macron "happens to be totally right. There is no justifiable excuse for refusing vaccination, which is the only way the pandemic will ever come close to ending. Macron has set a fine example for other world leaders to follow in refusing to kowtow before ignorance or honor selfishness."

McAuley added that Macron's vulgar commentary, which a number of his opponents denounced, "already seems to have worked. By last Thursday, the first full day after Macron’s comment was made, France’s Health Ministry announced that the number of first vaccinations against the coronavirus had tripled to 66,000 — the country’s highest figure since Oct. 1."

But despite the glut of newly jabbed French citizens, McAuley still tore into them, saying it's "sad ... that the only way to compel citizens to act for the greater good is not to appeal to some higher sense of civic duty but to tell them there will be no restaurant meals if they don’t get their shots."

"Funny how even the loudest vaccine skeptics start to reconsider their convictions when they realize there won’t be able to drink wine on cafe terraces," he concluded. "It’s almost as though their convictions are not so much convictions and actually just, well, what Macron said."

How did folks react to McAuley's column?

A number of Twitter users took umbrage with McAuley's premise and a number of points he made:

  • "The CDC director said 'vaccine doesn't prevent transmission.' Stop spreading false information. Getting the vaccine will not end the pandemic," one commenter said.
  • "What a dumbass you are," another user wrote. "The unvaccinated are not the problem when the vaccine doesn’t actually stop transmission."
  • "I'm vaxxed but this story is desperate," another user said, after which another commenter added, "Desperate? It's downright insane."
  • "You know, for someone who's info is publicly available and is physically incapable of defending themselves, you might want to think twice about advocating the abuse of others to the point of them having nothing to lose," another commenter responded. "Just a thought."

Survey: 97% of vaccinated Americans who've ended friendships during COVID pandemic view ex-pals as 'full-blown anti-vaxxers'



An online survey probing the reasons why people have ended friendships since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic unearthed at least one particularly head-turning data point.

Among vaccinated Americans who've ended friendships since March 2020, almost all of them (97%) view their ex-friends as "full-blown anti-vaxxers" and just couldn't get them to see things their way with regard to the COVID-19 vaccines, OnePoll reported.

Breaking down the numbers

But it isn't as though a vast majority of those who've ended friendships in the last 18 months did so over vaccines — far from it.

The survey of 1,000 Americans conducted Sept. 2 found that only 14% of vaccinated respondents said they axed friends who didn't want to get the needle, OnePoll noted.

The vaccinated respondents who view their ex-friends as "full-blown anti-vaxxers" indicated in the survey that among the reasons their former friends were reluctant to get the shot were "not believing in vaccines to claiming the COVID-19 vaccine doesn't work."

Many unvaccinated respondents said they are worried about the vaccines' potential side effects while others said they're healthy and don't need the vaccine — and still others expressed distrust, OnePoll noted.

In addition, among survey respondents who ended friendships for any reason, a whopping 66% are vaccinated — and only 17% indicated don't plan to get a shot ever, the outlet said.

Political differences

The survey also found that a vast majority of Democratic respondents (81%) are fully vaccinated while somewhat fewer Republicans (64%) can say the same thing. In addition, the survey found that 69% of Independents and 41% of third-party supporters are fully vaccinated.

Only 7% of Democrats who were part of the survey said they haven't been vaccinated yet, followed by 20% of Independents, 23% of Republicans, and 27% of third-party supporters, the survey found.

More from OnePoll:

Surprisingly, many Democrats (41%) feel society is too critical of unvaccinated people, and over half of Republicans (57%) echo that sentiment. However, 12% of Democrats and 5% of Republicans disagree society is harsh on unvaccinated people.

Overall, 61% of vaccinated people feel "very confident" in their decision to get the shot, compared to 33% of people who feel the same about not getting inoculated.

Other reasons for ending friendships

The survey uncovered a number of other reasons why friendships ended during the pandemic apart from disagreements about vaccines:

  • Different political views (16%)
  • Dating or sleeping with an ex (15%)
  • Making up rumors about them (12%)
  • Being liars (7%)

Americans have ended friendships over the COVID-19 vaccineyoutu.be

Anti-vaxxer protesters shut down large vaccination site at Dodger Stadium



One of the largest coronavirus vaccination sites in the country was forced to temporarily shut down after a throng of protesters allegedly blocked the entrance to Dodger Stadium, where the mass COVID-19 vaccinations were being administered.

Approximately 50 protesters gathered at the entrance of the vaccination site around 2 p.m. on Saturday, causing the Los Angeles Fire Department to temporarily halt motorists from entering Dodger Stadium as a precaution, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The anti-vaxxers attempted to encourage people to not get the COVID-19 vaccine, held up anti-vaccination signs, and handed out pamphlets to motorists who were waiting in line for hours. The L.A. Times labeled the demonstrators as "members of anti-vaccine and far-right groups."

We’re at the mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium to get my mom the vaccine. The anti–vax protestors have approa… https://t.co/pi5PwQClnO
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel Jollett)1612045297.0


The protesters gathered outside the stadium’s closed gates and it became a standoff. LAPD officers were present, bu… https://t.co/tEY9tT4SN8
— Emily Holshouser (@Emily Holshouser)1612048046.0

The Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement about the situation.

"We are aware of social media posts referring to protestors showing up at the Dodger Stadium COVID-19 vaccination site," the LAPD tweeted. "Preliminary reports are that protestors remained peaceful. The LAPD did NOT close the gates, and per LA City Fire, all scheduled vaccines will be delivered."

We are aware of social media posts referring to protestors showing up at the Dodger Stadium COVID-19 vaccination si… https://t.co/3hRicxSnE8
— LAPD HQ (@LAPD HQ)1612053969.0

California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted about the protest.

"CA is working around the clock to provide life-saving vaccines to those on the frontlines of this pandemic. We will not be deterred or threatened. Dodger Stadium is back up and running," Newsom said.

The vaccination site reportedly reopened by 3 p.m. The site is usually open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Andrea Garcia, the press secretary for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, said that everyone who had an appointment for Saturday would be able to get vaccinated.

There were no incidents of violence, according to the L.A. Times. The LAPD said no arrests were made during the peaceful protest.

Previously, Dodger Stadium was being used for widescale coronavirus testing. The MLB ballpark transitioned into a massive COVID-19 vaccination site in mid-January. City officials said the site would vaccinate up to 12,000 people a day.

California's coronavirus vaccination effort had a rocky start. Two weeks ago, the Golden State was last in the percentage of coronavirus vaccine dosages used, but have rebounded since.

The Biden administration had made a goal to vaccinate 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of the president's term. However, many have noted that this is not exactly an ambitious goal since that number would have likely be achieved at the current rate of vaccinations.

Possibly compounding problems, there is a report that the Biden administration can't account for as many as 20 million vaccine doses that were sent to states across the country.

Democrats’ Opposition To A COVID-19 Vaccine Could Cost Lives

You would think Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris would be circumspect about rooting against a vaccine that the nation and the world desperately need as soon as possible.