After getting vaccinated, New Orleans woman delivers a blunt message to non-believers

Maureen Weil received the coronavirus vaccine Monday in New Orleans, and the 79-year-old hopes all of her fellow Americans follow in her footsteps.

In an interview with NBC News, Weil said she felt "excited" and "blessed" to be among the first people to get the vaccine. "I have a chance to see a few more days on this Earth because I'm protected," Weil said. "I believe in science."

When asked what she would tell people who question the vaccine and don't want to receive it, Weil responded, "I call them stupid because — that or either a buffoon. Because that's the only thing I could think of that could justify their stupidity."

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She said a lot of people don't believe in the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 350,000 Americans, because "they listen to the man that's in Washington, D.C., that's on his way out the door talking about how it's all a hoax and all that bullcorn. And he shouldn't be doing that because that's peoples' lives. Look at the parents who've died and left young children. I mean, it's sad."

Getting the vaccine "didn't hurt," Weil said, and now she has "peace of mind" and "knows one thing for sure. I'm gonna save somebody else's life by protecting myself. I won't get the corona so I can't spread it to anybody else. So that gives me a little satisfaction that I'm doing it not just for myself but for others." Americans "have to believe in science," Weil said. "There's no other way. When we didn't have a vaccine we were really up the creek, weren't we? And we had a hole in the boat. But we got a vaccine, so we got safety." Catherine Garcia