Marjorie Taylor Greene's Polio Vaccine Comment Gets Scorched
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is using the new COVID-19 surge to sow more doubt about the coronavirus vaccines, which sharply reduce the chances of serious illness and death.
Greene on Sunday tweeted a link to an article about New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s breakthrough case in which he credited vaccination for keeping his symptoms minor.
“How many breakthrough cases of polio are there?” Greene wrote.
How many breakthrough cases of polio are there? https://t.co/2LrQTdFkx6
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) December 20, 2021
Greene’s off-key comment comparing breakthrough COVID cases, which are mostly mild, with polio, which was mostly eradicated in the decades after a vaccine was introduced, landed with a thud. As usual, the anti-vaccine, pro-conspiracy lawmaker missed the point ― and was flat-out wrong, people on Twitter pointed out.
Critics noted the near-universal compliance with the polio shot. Only 61% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus ― and many who refuse the shots buy into anti-vaccine conspiracy theories pushed by the likes of Greene.
They also schooled Greene on the COVID-19 vaccines’ proven protection against death and hospitalization, and provided some history about vaccines in America. And, yes, there have been breakthrough cases of polio and even measles, despite the game-changing inoculations.
One thing that helps prevent breakthrough cases of polio is not having it run rampant. That helps a lot, given that even the polio vaccine is not quite 100% effective. Luckily for us, people back then lined up to get their vaccines to eradicate polio in the U.S.
— Donita Diamata (@DiamataDonita) December 20, 2021
— Benjamin Donkey (@freevoice02) December 20, 2021
— Eric Oberg (@obie_one) December 20, 2021
— Jennifer S Jackson-Hooks (@BuhMule) December 20, 2021
The science expert (🙄) has finally discovered that there can be breakthrough cases of COVID. Just wait until it finds out that people who get flu shots can get the flu. The difference is that when they do, the cases are much milder and less likely to cause death.
— LINDZEE (@WVUMAMA2) December 20, 2021
— Mich Soca (@Michelle_IC) December 20, 2021
— Tara (@dcat_tara) December 20, 2021
— Ninevah Joseph 33 (@ChicagoWindy62) December 20, 2021
You clearly don’t understand what the vaccine is currently designed to do. Perhaps you need to focus on your study of Jewish Space Lasers
— John H. (@Hoppylaw) December 20, 2021
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
