Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday urged former President Donald Trump to publicly encourage his supporters to get vaccinated against COVID-19, expressing shock and disappointment that so many Republicans are declining the shot, according to a recent poll.
Fauci, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” said that Trump encouraging Republicans to get the vaccine “would make all the difference in the world.”
“He’s a very widely popular person among Republicans. If he came out and said, ‘Go and get vaccinated, it’s really important’ ... it seems absolutely inevitable that the vast majority of people who are his close followers would listen to him,” said Fauci.
Trump and his wife, Melania, were reportedly quietly vaccinated back in January. When asked about why the two haven’t supported the effort more, Fauci shared his own confusion.
“It’s puzzling to me. I mean, clearly Operation Warp Speed started in the Trump administration. It was very successful in getting us the vaccines we have right now,” Fauci said of the Trump administration’s program to develop a vaccine, which began last year.
“It seems like an intrinsic contradiction, the fact that you had a program that was started during his presidency and he’s not telling people to get vaccinated,” he said. “I wish he would. He has such an incredible influence over people in the Republican Party. It would really be a game changer if he did.”
Fauci’s plea follows a recent NPR survey, which found that 49% of Republican men said they did not plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine, compared with just 6% of Democratic men who said the same. Nearly half of those who said they supported Trump in the 2020 election said they don’t plan to get vaccinated, compared to 10% of Biden supporters.
On Thursday, all former living presidents and first ladies, except for the Trumps, appeared in a public service announcement that urged Americans to get vaccinated when they are able to.
Last week, Biden ordered public health officials across the country to make sure all American adults are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1.
Despite some Americans apparently declining to get vaccinated, Fauci lauded current vaccine efforts, which are distributing millions of shots per day. At this rate, he said in a separate interview with CNN’s “State of the Union,” anyone who wants the vaccine will likely have received one by the end of summer. He credited the opening of community centers and mobile units for helping expand vaccine coverage across the U.S.