After weeks of Tucker Carlson’s anti-vaccine tirade on Fox News, people want to know whether the host has been vaccinated himself.
Carlson has repeatedly called into question the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine and the people behind the public health initiative. But, he’s never said if he himself would or wouldn’t be taking it. Now, people want to know the truth, using the hashtag “Tucker Vaxxed.”
Numerous vaccine doubters, perhaps most notably President Donald Trump, have gotten the shot on the down low.
And over the past months, as vaccinations have ramped up, Carlson’s rhetoric has grown more extreme.
First, Carlson suggested that the Pfizer vaccine doesn’t actually work because it is likely that people will need booster shots to retain immunity.
“The CEO on Pfizer just announced that two doses probably aren’t enough,” Carlson said.
But, a third dose or a booster shot was always considered by vaccine companies.
Soon after, Carlson floated that public health officials could potentially be withholding information in order to get more people vaccinated. He floated that notion because people are still being told to social distance after receiving their vaccine.
“Maybe it doesn’t work and (public health officials) are simply not telling you,” Carlson said.
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In reality, social distancing guidelines are still in place because of new coronavirus variants and because of the number of people still unvaccinated in the U.S. As of Friday, more than a third of adults are fully vaccinated, according to USA Today.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says that over 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity. Because the U.S. has yet to reach that milestone, social distancing is still encouraged.
Most recently, Carlson questioned the downsides of the vaccine in a 15-minute segment that aired without any health experts featured.
“How many Americans have died after getting the vaccines designed to prevent the virus? Do you know the answer to that question? Do you know anything about the downside?” Carlson said.
And that’s the problem that many health officials have with Carlson’s propaganda. There are rarely any health experts on his show to back up his claims.
In a response to Carlson on CNN, Dr. Jonathon Reiner called him a “saboteur” and helped sparked the discourse about whether Carlson himself chose to get vaccinated.
“Every night he has a million questions about this vaccine, somehow, magically, he has no one on his show that can answer these questions. I’m willing to answer these questions,” Reiner said on CNN.
Reiner continued to press on Carlson by directly asking him, “No. 1, have you been vaccinated? And No. 2, why won’t you tell your audience whether you’ve been vaccinated?”
It sparked a viral trend on Twitter that had people tweeting the hashtag ‘Tucker Vaxxed’ and asking him the same question.
“Why won’t Tucker Carlson tell his audience he’s been vaccinated? #TuckerVaxxed,” one person tweeted.
“Hey #TuckerCarlson what’s your status? All you do is peddle falsehoods, putting people’s lives in jeopardy. #Tucker #TuckerVaxxed,” another added.
Carlson is free to answer the question on his show tonight, although it’s unlikely he will.
To find out more information on the COVID-19 vaccine, visit the CDC’s website.
