Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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A viral internet image from the California recall election last week offered a sobering look at how the Republican Party’s politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt Americans.
The image shows two maps of California placed side by side. The map on the left shows how counties voted on whether to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, while the one on the right shows the rate of COVID infections in each county.
It’s a jarring comparison. In places that supported Newsom, a Democrat, the infection rate is generally low. In counties that voted to oust him, all GOP-dominated areas, the infection rate is high — and in some cases sky high.
The conclusion is inescapable. In a Republican-initiated vote that was largely about mask mandates and other measures to reduce the spread of the disease, the counties where the largest percentage of people are getting sick and dying were the ones that wanted to remove Newsom and replace him with someone who’d eliminate the safety precautions.
The image is based on statistics, but what it reflects on a deeper level is months upon months of anti-mask, anti-vaccine propaganda and misinformation by extremist right-wing leaders and media figures.
Heaven knows how many Americans have died, lost loved ones or endured horrific medical ordeals after being misled by this destructive messaging. We know that the recent death toll among right-wing anti-vax, anti-mask radio talk show hosts who spread that disinformation is very high — nearly every week for the past five weeks, another one winds up dead, victims of their own delusional propaganda. God help their listeners.
The California snapshot is hardly the only one of its type. Map after map shows that the infection and death rates are highest in places that vote heavily Republican — Florida, Texas, other areas in the Southeast, intermountain areas of the Northwest, etc.
These patchwork images tell a tragic tale of a pandemic that could have been brought under control with the advent of vaccines but instead spiraled into a deadly new outbreak due to right-wing fear-mongering.
In Southern Nevada, that has translated into ghastly numbers of new cases in recent weeks, and a report last week from the federal government that fewer than 10% of adult ICU beds were available in the region due to an influx of COVID patients.
Another unsettling development occurred when the National Association of Broadcasters canceled its annual convention in Las Vegas due to concerns over the delta outbreak. Just like that, an event that has drawn 100,000 attendees and generated millions in economic impact in previous years was wiped off of the October convention calendar. Fortunately, other major conventions remain on the schedule for this fall and winter, and experts aren’t expecting more cancellations, but the NAB announcement was a disappointment in a community whose recovery had been surging before the delta outbreak. We must all hope organizers do everything in their power to have the conventions safely.
Nobody wants to see Las Vegas go backward economically, which is why it’s critical for all unvaccinated Nevadans to get their shots. Actually, it’s important for all Americans to be vaccinated — we’re all in this together.
The vaccinations are safe and effective against the spread of COVID-19, and also offer protection against serious infections from the delta variant. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that unvaccinated individuals are 11 times more likely to die from the disease than those who’ve been vaccinated. While breakthrough cases are occurring, those infections are overwhelmingly minor and generally do not lead to hospitalization.
Meanwhile, ongoing vaccine resistance helps give rise to new variants and threatens to put our nation on a repeat cycle of pain and suffering. The more Americans are vaccinated, the less the chances that successive variants will arise and sweep across the country like the delta variant.
These are the facts about vaccinations. What’s coming from the death cult of the right is a toxic stew of lies, misinformation and fear-mongering designed to advance political careers and draw revenue to media organizations at the expense of millions of Americans.
The difference is black-and-white — or, in the case of images like the one from California, written in the bold colors that designate high-infection areas.
Please, please don’t be misled. Get vaccinated instead. There’s nothing political about this: It’s the key to protecting yourself, your loved ones, your neighbors, your entire community and your local economy.
