Perspectives: Shaming the Unvaccinated

Twenty-five percent of Americans are unvaccinated against COVID-19. Should they be left alone or called out?

More than 519 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S., fully vaccinating over 207 million people. That leaves tens of millions of eligible Americans who haven't received the vaccine. As of this week, 60% percent of white people and 60% of Hispanic people had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose across 42 states that reported the data, compared to 81% of Asian people and 54% of black people. As of late October, 90% of Democrats reported having received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, compared to 61% of Republicans. The partisan divide is wider on the subject of vaccinating kids — 80% of Democrats say they'll have their adolescents vaccinated, compared to just 25% of Republicans.

Several left-rated voices at major news outlets have advocated for shaming unvaccinated people as a way to encourage vaccination. One Washington Post (Lean Left bias) writer argued that there's "no justifiable excuse for refusing vaccination, which is the only way the pandemic will ever come close to ending." Some left- and center-rated voices spoke out against shaming unvaccinated people, with one writer noting how "low levels of vaccine uptake in some communities is often linked to structural inequalities, including health inequality, and a resulting lack of trust." Right-rated voices have criticized President Joe Biden, left-rated media voices and others for their attempts to shame the unvaccinated, arguing that it's unproductive and baseless since some vaccinated people are still contracting COVID-19.