Madison, Wis. — As the Delta variant causes COVID cases to rise across Wisconsin, Ron Johnson has doubled down on his anti-vaccine rhetoric. Johnson sent a letter to the FDA falsely claiming that the drug that was certified is different from the one being used when in fact the two drugs are the same and were created in a joint effort by Pfizer and BioNTech.
“Ron Johnson’s continued efforts to dissuade people from getting vaccinated are the reason we’re seeing Wisconsin ICUs filling nearly to capacity, businesses worrying how they’ll survive a COVID resurgence, and parents wondering how they can keep their children safe,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Senate Communications Advisor Philip Shulman said.
Johnson’s latest dangerous stunt comes in a long line of actions and comments by Johnson that endanger Wisconsin’s public health and prolong the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Johnson routinely discourages people from getting vaccinated, brags about not being vaccinated himself, and uses unsubstantiated claims to argue the vaccine is dangerous, despite the shot being highly effective at preventing hospitalizations and death.
- He frequently pushes debunked and dangerous alternative medicine such as hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, a common horse medicine, and used his Senate panel to elevate disgraced medical professionals who push disproven alternative medicine.
- He repeatedly questions the effectiveness of masks, despite them being supported by medical experts.
