California Republicans speak out as conservatives remain hesitant on COVID vaccine
Ron Nehring is one of California’s most prominent Republicans, a veteran of countless battles against Democrats in a deep blue state.
No one can credibly accuse Nehring — who served as chair of the California Republican Party from 2007 to 2011, was a spokesman for Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign and supports the recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom — of siding with liberals.
Yet Nehring, who ran against Newsom in the 2014 race for lieutenant governor, agrees with the governor on one critical issue: vaccines. On Friday evening, Nehring took to Twitter with an impassioned plea for his fellow conservatives to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I’ve been active in the conservative movement for 32 years, and I signed up for my #COVID19 vaccine as soon as I could,” Nehring wrote. “I got the Moderna shot one week ago. Here’s why I chose to get vaccinated and I encourage you to as well.”
Nehring defended vaccine safety and explained why he chose to get his shot as soon as he became eligible. His Twitter thread also criticized anti-vaccination activists for spreading misinformation.
Nehring’s plea came at a time when polls show that Republicans remain the largest vaccine-hesitant demographic group. In March, nearly half of all Republican men said they did not plan to get vaccinated once the vaccine became available, according to a poll.
With over 64 million Americans now vaccinated, we seem close to turning the corner on COVID. The number of “vaccine-hesitant” people is trending downward as the life-saving jabs become increasingly available.
But some Republicans remain staunchly resistant, with red states like Oklahoma, Mississippi seeing a “lackluster demand” for vaccines, according to the New York Times.
Conservative vaccine hesitancy also exists in California. In February, a poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that only 44% of California Republicans had already received, or were “very likely” to get, vaccinated.
Nehring is one of a growing number of Republican leaders in California to speak out and encourage vaccination. Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, R-Templeton, told the San Luis Obispo Tribune Editorial Board that he planned to get vaccinated and urged all of his constituents to do the same.
“We encourage everyone who is able to get a vaccine when eligible,” state GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson told the paper.
Nehring said it’s important for leaders of both parties to model good behavior on vaccines.
“I think every elected official who gets vaccinated regardless of their party should share that fact. I think that every person of influence — that is people in the news media, Hollywood, politics, etc, anyone with the with visibility — should share that so that others can see that and be encouraged by them,” Nehring said.
Still, it’s clear that disinformation has taken hold in some conservative minds.
“I think there are some anti-vaccine activists who have attempted to hack into conservatives’ natural skepticism of big government,” said Nehring. “What we find very often is that in disinformation campaigns and active measures campaigns, the effort is to hack into the existing biases and beliefs of the target audience.”
To fight disinformation, Nehring said it’s crucial to avoid blaming vaccine-hesitant people and to focus instead on addressing their concerns with accurate information. It’s a miracle that drug companies were able to create a vaccine so quickly, Nehring said, but the speedy development has left some people with safety questions.
Stories about potential side effects of vaccines — like Tuesday’s announcement that the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is being temporarily halted due to concerns over the potential for rare blood clots — could heighten fears.
Dr. Margaret Parsons, a Sacramento physician, said she hasn’t noticed any particular ideological bent among vaccine-hesitant patients. Most people seem excited about the vaccine, she said.
“Those that have been hesitant had specific concerns and have been varied,” Parsons said. “People have questions about it ... is it safe, what are the differences between the two?”
Nehring said it’s important to answer those questions.
“We should go about addressing the legitimate concerns of those people who are genuinely looking for signals and cues and messages as they make a decision as to whether they should get vaccinated,” he said.
Ultimately, Nehring said, it’s important for conservatives to remember that the United States government helped lead the world towards rapid vaccine development and distribution. Even former President Donald Trump quietly received his vaccination in January.
“It is a great vaccine,” Trump said during a Fox News appearance in March. “It is a safe vaccine, and it is something that works.”
The vaccination issue is coming to a head at a critical moment for both the COVID pandemic and California politics. Many counties have already opened up vaccination to people of all ages and new daily COVID infections have hit promising lows.
Yet some officials worry that there might be enough vaccine-hesitant Californians to prevent us from reaching so-called herd immunity. This could prolong the pandemic and increase the death toll during a year that is also likely to feature a recall campaign against Newsom.
Many recall supporters accuse Newsom of mishandling the pandemic. But it will be hard to pin blame on the Democratic governor if Republicans prolong the pandemic by hesitating to take a miraculous cure developed during Trump’s presidency.
The COVID vaccine will save lives, but every person must make a personal choice about whether to protect their family against a virus that has killed over 60,000 Californians. That’s why it’s great to see leaders like Nehring, whose party has flirted with anti-vaccine ideology in recent years, speaking out forcefully in favor of science.
This story was originally published April 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California Republicans speak out as conservatives remain hesitant on COVID vaccine."