Rubio on coronavirus vaccine hesitancy: ‘It’s really not a partisan issue’

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Wednesday discussed vaccine hesitancy in the United States amid a surge in coronavirus cases, saying it’s “not really a partisan issue.”

In an interview on “CBS This Morning,” Rubio was asked about rising COVID-19 cases in Florida, and if he felt Republicans could be doing more to combat vaccine hesitancy.

The pace of vaccinations has slowed in the United States, and polls have shown that Republicans are more hesitant about vaccinations.

“I don’t think the skepticism is just among Republicans,” Rubio said. “I see all kinds of voices that I don’t think are ideological. It’s people who decided they want to believe something they read somewhere.”

Rubio was then shown a CBS-YouGov poll, which showed that 29 percent of Republicans said they would not get vaccinated, compared to 6 percent of Democrats.

“It’s really not a partisan issue,” Rubio said. “I don’t care what the polling says. At the end of the day, the vaccine is the vaccine. It’s a human thing. Either you take it, or you don’t. There are people who don’t want to be vaccinated and you won’t convince them.”

In another poll released by ABC and The Washington Post earlier this month, Democrats and Republicans were divided on the issue of the coronavirus vaccine. 

Eighty-six percent of Democrats said they have received at least one shot of the vaccine, while 45 percent of Republicans said the same. Six percent of Democrats said they are not likely to get inoculated, while 47 percent of Republicans said the same. 

Of those Republicans who said they were not likely to get the jab, 38 percent said they definitely will not get the shot. 

Rubio’s comments comes after the White House said last week that his state accounts for 20 percent of the nation’s new coronavirus infections.

Around 55 percent of Florida’s population have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and just under 48 percent are fully vaccinated.

Rubio encouraged people to get vaccinated, because even if they do get the disease, the consequences would be much less dire.

“Everybody should get vaccinated. Let me say that one more time. Please do. Because even if you get the disease … you don’t go to the hospital, you don’t get intubated, and you don’t die,” Rubio said.

However, the Florida senator said that the decision to get the shot or not is still be a personal choice. 

“But at the end of the day, it’s up to people to make that decision. In a free society such as ours, there’s only so much we can do. We can provide information, we can debunk things that aren’t true, and we can provide access. It is ultimately up to people individually to make that decision,” he said. 

Tags Marco Rubio

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