Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican candidate for governor of Arkansas who previously served as former President Donald Trump's White House press secretary, penned an op-ed that ran in The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Sunday explaining why she chose to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Arkansas has one of the lower vaccination rates among U.S. states, with only 45 percent of the population having received at least one dose, according to The New York Times, so Sanders' piece appears to be an attempt at persuasion. She took a light-handed approach, however, writing that she considers the choice to get vaccinated to be a "deeply personal" one. "I have many friends who have expressed sincere concerns about being vaccinated, and it isn't my place to tell them what to do," she said.
But Sanders still touted the success of the shots and emphasized Trump's role in getting them out to the public. "It's clear that the Trump vaccine works and is saving lives," she wrote, adding that she was reassured by the fact that Trump and his family got vaccinated themselves.
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Sanders also took aim at the Biden administration, blaming President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for instilling fear in Americans for questioning Operation Warp Speed — the federal vaccine development effort under the Trump administration — last year. "If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives, they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and give President Trump and his team the credit they are due for the development of a safe and effective vaccine in record time," Sanders wrote. Read the full piece at The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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