The Biden administration has come out swinging against governors and other state officials who have criticized the administration’s proposed door-to-door campaign to get Americans vaccinated.
Late last week, press secretary Jen Psaki blasted Republican South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster for blocking efforts to increase vaccinations in his state where the vaccination rate remains far below the national average.
“The failure to provide accurate public health information, including the efficacy of vaccines and the accessibility of them to people across the country, including South Carolina, is literally killing people, so maybe they should consider that,” Pataki said Friday.
McMaster is the latest Republican governor to condemn the administration’s plan to send federal health officials into communities to spread information about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
In a tweet, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said “sending government employees or agents door-to-door to compel vaccination would NOT be an effective OR welcome strategy in Missouri.” Texas’s governor has also spoken out about the idea and Arizona’s attorney general sent a letter to the White House criticizing the strategy.
The administration’s door-to-door strategy was prompted by severe spikes of COVID-19 cases in certain regions, including parts of Missouri and Arkansas. The pace of vaccinations in the U.S. began slowing in April and many of the unvaccinated have said they have no plans to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Homebound seniors are among those having difficulty accessing the vaccine.
The Delta variant has become the dominant strain of the virus and has been blamed for many of the recent COVID-19 outbreaks.
