Harvard professor criticizes everyone from cops to LeBron James in call for mandatory COVID vaccines

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In media news today, CNN’s Jake Tapper defends Nancy Pelosi after Sen. Susan Collins knocks speaker for ‘partisan’ Jan. 6 committee, PBS’ Yamiche Alcindor lobbies Biden to extend eviction moratorium, and the Washingtonian attempts to cover for DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s photo scandal

A Harvard professor managed to criticize police officers, fire fighters, teachers, LeBron James, health care aides, unions and anyone who thinks required COVID vaccines are an affront to liberties in a single Washington Post column calling for mandatory jabs. 

“It’s time to acknowledge what few in the public health field are willing to say: The campaign to persuade all Americans to voluntarily accept coronavirus vaccinations has hit its limit,” Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health director and associate professor Joseph G. Allen wrote Monday before praising the Biden administration’s performance on distributions to date.

The Harvard professor declared the nation has since “hit a wall with this voluntary approach” and felt it’s time to eliminate the freedom for Americans to decide what they put in their bodies. 

“The only way out of our covid-19 morass is to mandate vaccines,” Allen wrote. 

Allen slammed Republicans for a vaccine “hesitancy” but failed to mention reluctance from other groups, blamed the FDA for going too slow on full approval and singled out NBA star LeBron James for being a poor role model. 

“Professional athletes and other ‘influencers’ have been weak advocates. It’s time to call them out,” Allen wrote. “LeBron James could probably single-handedly account for tens of thousands of people getting vaccinated — and thousands of lives saved — with a simple pro-vaccine message. Despite being outspoken on many issues of social importance, on whether he was vaccinated, he declined to answer and said, ‘It’s not a big deal.’”

Allen also scolded union leaders who haven’t pushed the vaccine. 

“It is absolutely appalling to see vaccination rates around the 40 to 50 percent range for unionized workers such as New York City’s police, firefighters and corrections officers, as well as 60 percent for the city’s Education Department workers,” Allen wrote. “Are these the city’s Finest? Bravest? Boldest? Smartest? It’s not looking like it for many of them. Why aren’t union heads out there every single day promoting vaccinations for their members? Unions need to get their house in order.”

He called it “shocking” that some aides in long-term health-care facilities aren’t vaccinated and encouraged businesses to rebrand potential mandates if needed. 

Don’t want to call them ‘mandates?’ That’s fine. Then do what MGM Resorts and the National Football League did and, instead of mandating, make the burden of being unvaccinated so high that people comply,” he wrote. “Why are so many people acting like this is some kind of affront to our liberties? It’s routine to get vaccines for all sorts of things. Immunization records are required to go to school, to summer camps and for international travel. We have a silver bullet that can end this crisis. Why are we afraid to pull the trigger?”

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