Jen Psaki Schools Fox News Reporter Peter Doocy on How COVID Vaccines Work

Fox News’ White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Biden’s press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.

“I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death,” Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. “But I’m triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. You’re triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Why is the president still referring to this as a pandemic of the unvaccinated?”

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Noting that she had “minor symptoms” when she tested positive for COVID-19 after vaccination, Psaki calmly explained, “There is a huge difference between that and being unvaccinated.” And she came armed with the stats to back up her point.

“You are 17 times more likely to go to the hospital if you’re not vaccinated, 20 times more likely to die,” she added. “So yes, the impact for people who are unvaccinated is far more dire than for those who are vaccinated.”

As Media Matters’ news director John Whitehouse highlighted on Twitter after the exchange, Doocy’s question was particularly inane because it came just a few days after his own father, Steve Doocy, answered it for him on Fox & Friends despite the protestations of his dimmer, anti-vaxxer co-hosts.

Quoting his doctor, Steve Doocy said that it helps to “think of the vaccine as like wearing a kevlar vest.” It may not “stop a bullet” from hitting you, “but it won't let the bullet kill you.”

“And that's why I trust the doctors. I trust the science,” he continued. “You know, it’s the only game we’ve got right now is to get vaccinated and boosted.

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