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Colin Powell Died ‘Fully Vaccinated’ and Liberals Are Freaking Out

Liberal commentators have rushed in to police what they say is a dangerous conversation about former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s death Monday from complications of COVID-19.

SO WHAT

Whom exactly are they trying to convince?

WHAT HAPPENED

After Powell died at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, the media was filled with bipartisan tributes to his character and four decades of public service, including as national security adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state under Republican presidents.

However, many advocates of COVID-19 vaccination were upset about the coverage and discussion of how Powell died — complaining that his “fully vaccinated” status was getting more attention than his age, 84, or his apparently immune-system-compromising treatment for multiple myeloma.

Caroline Orr Beuno, a “mis/disinformation” expert at the University of Maryland, called out some of the “irresponsible” tweets by elite media outlets.

John Roberts, a Fox News anchor, deleted his tweet saying Powell’s death “raises new concerns about how effective vaccines are long-term” amid a Twitter pile-on, and clarified that he is not “anti-vax.”

Maggie Haberman, The New York Times’ Washington correspondent, admonished Roberts and conservative activist Matt Schlapp after he defended the anchor.

Adam Blickstein, a Washingtonian reporter, predicted Republicans will use Powell’s death “in order to kill more Americans with anti-vaccine propaganda.”

Meanwhile, CNN and others in the media said Powell’s death was an argument for more vaccines and booster shots.

THE DIVIDE

With general support from the media, President Joe Biden and his administration have often overstated the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines they are mandating, while vilifying and attempting to silence skeptics.

  • Republicans have led resistance to vaccination mandates based on a more realistic understanding of the virulence of the coronavirus, but they have tended to underestimate the efficacy of vaccines, according to the limited data on breakthrough cases.
  • The risk of hospitalization for vaccinated people is less than 1% compared to 1-5% for vaccinated people in the United States, and age and comorbidities are major risk factors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Biden said in a speech Thursday that divisive “vaccination requirements should not be another issue that divides us. That’s why we continue to battle the misinformation that’s out there.”

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