A former Central, SC bartender has tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after maskless Senate functions and a cookout on Sen. Joe Manchin III’s houseboat on Saturday:
Now, do your countrymen a favor and go on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show and say that.
Like other members of Congress and high officials, Graham received his vaccination in December alongside high-risk health care workers, the Washington Post reports:
It is unclear whether Graham’s infection could affect the Senate’s consideration this week of a massive infrastructure package that was the result of a recent bipartisan deal among centrist senators. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants to pass the bill this week.
Graham’s announcement follows a week of rising tensions on Capitol Hill over a renewed call for mask-wearing by the Capitol physician after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance in response to the growing number of infections across the country stemming from the delta variant of the virus.
The House and Senate have split over how to respond to the growing number of infections across the country.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week reimposed a mask requirement on that side of the Capitol, threatening to fine members who do not wear masks in the House chamber, saying she was following the advice of Brian Monahan, the top doctor in the Office of the Attending Physician of Congress.
But the Senate adopted a more laissez-faire approach, with no guidance from Monahan released and senators and their staffs making their own decision about whether to wear a mask. That created a split-screen image in which the entire Republican side of the Senate chamber would be maskless, as the Democratic side was overwhelmingly masked up.
First in the Senate, Graham’s is not the first breakthrough infection in Congress. A vaccinated member of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff tested positive last month, as well as a vaccinated White House staffer. According to various reports, perhaps six senators attended Manchin’s wingding, including Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
The noted Trump sychophant could do his country a service by going on Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity’s Fox shows and touting the importance of vaccination.
CNN’s Stephen Collinson spotlights how the “vast human tragedy” of the COVID-19 pandemic is augmented by American vaccine refuseniks dying now as the virus seeks targets of opportunity:
The CDC said on Saturday for example that less than 0.004% of people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 experience a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization. Less than 0.001% died from the disease. While the tally of those breakthrough cases — 6,587 — and deaths — 1,263 — seems like a lot, they need to be set against the fact that more than 163 million people in the United States were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of July 26.
[…]
The idea that anyone would not save themselves because they are listening to a politician (not just Trump) who is downplaying the pandemic to boost their own career, or a right-wing pundit spiking their ratings, is its own tragedy.
But no matter the reason, it’s increasingly clear that people who refuse the vaccine are now taking a significant risk with their own lives and health — and the well-being of those who might be left behind if they die. With kids under 12 still ineligible to be vaccinated, the skeptics also risk exposing the youngest and vulnerable members of society to a serious disease. Ultimately, they are laying a wager in what West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice called “a death lottery.”
Collinson reports on several who lost their bets, writing, “They didn’t have to die.”
You can help them save themselves, Senator Graham. Do what’s right.