CBS' John Dickerson to Fauci: Do unvaccinated Americans 'feel insulted' by those urging them to get the shot?
'Is it the people delivering the message to those who are unvaccinated... that needs to change?'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CBS anchor John Dickerson grilled Dr. Anthony Fauci on the Biden administration's ongoing struggles to maintain the vaccination rate among Americans as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
On Sunday's "Face the Nation," Dickerson kicked off the interview by pondering to the top White House adviser if it's the messenger rather than the message of getting the vaccine that's discouraging the holdouts.
"Is it that the facts are not getting to people or is it the people delivering the message to those who are unvaccinated—that that needs to change?" Dickerson asked.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Well, I think maybe all of the above," Fauci answered. "You know, it's almost inexplicable why people—when they see the data in front of them, that they don't get vaccinated."
Dickerson further delved into the "psychology" of those who have yet to be vaccinated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You say the facts are hitting people between the eyes. Is it possible that people are a little scared, a little nervous, and the more facts they hear, they don’t hear evidence, what they hear is ‘you’re a dummy for not getting this.’ And that, essentially, people feel insulted when the evidence is presented as if it should be clearly obvious to any normal person and that all that does is put them back in their corner," Dickerson pressed the NIAID director.
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"You know, you have a point there," Fauci conceded, "and that's the reason, John, with what's going on right now is getting trusted messages, not government officials like myself but trusted messages in the community to outreach to people. And those messages could be your family doctor, it could be a clergy person, it could be a community leader, it could be a sports figure, it could be the people who could be really trusted by the community. So you're absolutely right."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fauci went on to say that Americans should be told to get vaccinated but not in a "finger-pointing way."