They might as well be drinking a Hale-Bopp cocktail:
On Tuesday, the Cape Cod Times reported that Linda Zuern, a former member of the Bourne, Massachusetts Board of Selectmen and a Trump-supporting figure in the local Republican Party, had died of COVID-19.
Zuern died at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston of severe complications caused by COVID-19, according to the report. She was 70 years old and had not been vaccinated.
“She was a strong woman who believed in speaking the truth and defending our freedoms in America,” Republican State Committeewoman Deborah Dugan told the Cape Cod Times. Dugan was at Zuern’s bedside when she died. “I would describe her to people as a little woman but a mighty warrior.”
For months, Zuern, a member of the pro-Trump group the United Cape Patriots, had promoted conspiracy theories about the pandemic on Facebook. She has shared articles accusing the World Health Organization of a coverup of the “Wuhan Virus” and claiming COVID-19 is cover for “globalists” to usher in “U.N. Agenda 2030” — a sustainable development initiative right-wing conspiracy theorists assert is a plot to create a one world government.
Zuern also expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, posting their creed of “WWG1WGA” (Where We Go One, We Go All).
Zuern promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment of COVID-19 during a Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates meeting in December and questioned whether officials “had looked into preventative measures that people could use besides a vaccine to help build up their immune system,” the Cape Cod Times reported.
Peter Meier, chair of the Board of Selectmen, said Zuern cared deeply about others. “She definitely left her mark on the community,” he added.
I wonder how many people she took with her.
It’s getting hard to feel sorry for people like this in light of these findings:
Most Americans who still aren’t vaccinated say nothing — not their own doctor administering it, a favorite celebrity’s endorsement or even paid time off — is likely to make them get the shot, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
Why it matters: The findings are more sobering evidence of just how tough it may be to reach herd immunity in the U.S. But they also offer a roadmap for trying — the public health equivalent of, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”
What they’re saying: “There’s a part of that population that are nudge-able and another part that are unbudge-able,” said Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs.
“From a public health standpoint they’ve got to figure out how you nudge the nudge-able.”
Details: 30% of U.S. adults in our national survey said they haven’t yet gotten the COVID-19 vaccine — half of them a hard no, saying they’re “not at all likely” to take it. We asked the unvaccinated about how likely they’d be to take it in a number of scenarios:
The best prospect was a scenario in which they could get the vaccine at their regular doctor’s office. But even then, 55% said they’d remain not at all likely and only 7% said they’d be “very likely” to do it. That leaves a combined 35% who are either somewhat likely or not very likely but haven’t ruled it out.
The Biden administration’s Olivia Rodrigo play won’t reach a lot of the holdouts, according to these results: 70% said the endorsement of a celebrity or public figure they like is “not at all likely” to get them to take a shot, and just 4% said they’d be “very likely” to do it. But another combined 24% could be somewhat in play.
What if your boss gave you paid time off to get the shot? 63% said they’d still be not at all likely to do it, while 5% said they’d be very likely. Another 30% combined are potentially but not eagerly gettable.
Similar majorities said they’d be unmoved by community volunteers coming to the door to discuss the vaccine, the option to get a shot at work or a mobile clinic, or being lobbied by friends or family members.
The big picture: Overall, Americans’ concerns are rising for activities like seeing family and friends outside the home, going to the grocery store or sports events or getting on a plane.
Those concerns had subsided as vaccines became widely available. But the numbers are creeping back up after recent reports of rising infection rates and the dangers of the Delta variant.
But this trend is being driven by the vaccinated. The unvaccinated are no more concerned than they were before, which wasn’t much.
By the numbers: In contrast to unvaccinated Americans’ resistance to getting a shot at all, most vaccinated Americans say they’d go a step farther by getting a booster shot under a wide variety of hypothetical conditions:
85% if COVID-19 cases rise in the U.S.
87% if public health officials recommend it.
88% if there’s a new virus variant spreading in the U.S. or if it’s recommended annually like a flu shot.
93% if your doctor recommends it.
CNN interviewed a hospital executive/doctor in Florida this morning who said that they are now as full as they were in January. And half of their workforce is refusing to be vaccinated.
What the ever loving fuck???