Andy Slavitt, who has been helping the Minnesota Department of Health to vaccinate school children, said in a Twitter thread that going to public events is not a constitutional right. Slavitt was a former Biden COVID Response Senior Advisor and worked in the Obama administration as the head of Medicare and Medicaid.
Slavitt is a Minnesota native who partnered with the Minnesota Department of Health to promote their Vax to School campaign. As reported by The Minnesota Sun, “Minnesota has begun its ‘Vax to School’ campaign to try to get students and families fully vaccinated against COVID before the start of the school year.”
The Minnesota Department of Health is tapping a former Biden adviser to help make the push for vaccinating kids ahead of the start of the school year. https://t.co/seSxHfcht3
— FOX 9 (@FOX9) August 4, 2021
Slavitt’s Twitter thread was composed of 25 tweets, discussing the need for COVID vaccine mandates. He began by stating that a 90% vaccination rate should be the goal for Americans to “face off against Delta.” He then shared a statistic that approximately 17% of American citizens are unable to be vaccinated.
58% of Americans have had at least their first shot.
To be on par with England & Israel and to face off against Delta, we ought to unite behind a 90% goal.
Here’s how to get there. 2/
— Andy Slavitt 🇺🇦 (@ASlavitt) August 7, 2021
Slavitt then broke down the age categories of vaccinated individuals, noting the lower vaccination rates among younger people groups. Slavitt stated that, “It is hard not to reach the conclusion that people’s decision on whether to get vaccinated is highly related to their perceived personal risk.”
While Slavitt acknowledged and did not outright disagree with the general public’s concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccine, he said “those concerns fade in comparison” with the risk that COVID is now posing.
He claimed that there is at least 25% of the population that can and should get vaccinated but are “holding out,” and that they value their “personal safety” more than they do “protecting others.” Slavitt said that “policymakers need to choose between the interest of those 25% unvaccinated” and “the 17% who have no choice [and] rely on the rest of us.”
Policymakers must choose between the interest of those 25% unvaccinated & the 17% who have no choice & rely on the rest of us.
How policymakers (& business owners) make this decision will determine the course of the pandemic. 12/
— Andy Slavitt 🇺🇦 (@ASlavitt) August 7, 2021
He said, “Not getting vaccinated will always be an option. But the cost of that choice must be higher.” Slavitt listed several things that he believed a vaccination should be required for, including going to public events and going to work. He called them “not constitutional rights,” saying that “our own liberties must be considered in the context of our obligation to society.”
1- Requiremwnts— Going to work, getting on a plane, attending university, going to a public event are not rights embedded in the constitution. To enjoy this we need to fulfill our obligation to those around us. 16/
— Andy Slavitt 🇺🇦 (@ASlavitt) August 7, 2021
Slavitt claimed that “a standard has developed [and] soon your smart phone will allow you to have a way to show whether you are vaccinated or not.” He went on to compare having a vaccination card to having a driver’s license.
Slavitt also pushed for vaccinating those between the ages of 5 and 12, saying that could take place after an FDA approval. He said that by having a mandate, vaccination rates would rise citing group think, saying that most people move and act in groups. He also claimed, “Most opposition to COVID vaccines are not strongly held anti-vax sentiments.”
– – –
Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Andy Slavitt” by Andy Slavitt.
