Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) is one of several GOP governors who has frequently advocated for his constituents to get vaccinated against COVID-19. But he thinks President Biden may have gone too far with the sweeping new federal requirements he ordered last week.
On the one hand, it seems like Hutchinson is generally wary of the political ramifications of implementing mandates at the national level, telling NBC News' Chuck Todd on Sunday's edition of Meet the Press that previous vaccine requirements have come from the states. But on the other hand, the governor expressed concern that the White House's decision will backfire and increase vaccine hesitancy, which is already fairly significant across the U.S. "It increases the division in terms of vaccination when we should all be together trying to increase the vaccination uptake," he said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Drugmakers paid pharmacy benefit managers to avoid restricting opioid prescriptionsUnder the radar The middlemen and gatekeepers of insurance coverage have been pocketing money in exchange for working with Big Pharma
-
The week's best photosIn Pictures A cyclone's aftermath, a fearless leap, and more
-
The Imaginary Institution of India: a 'compelling' exhibitionThe Week Recommends 'Vibrant' show at the Barbican examines how political upheaval stimulated Indian art
-
California declares bird flu emergencySpeed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
-
Bird flu one mutuation from human threat, study findsSpeed Read A Scripps Research Institute study found one genetic tweak of the virus could enable its spread among people
-
Dark chocolate tied to lower diabetes riskSpeed Read The findings were based on the diets of about 192,000 US adults over 34 years
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 raceSpeed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burgerSpeed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
-
Israel, UN agree to Gaza pauses for polio vaccinationsSpeed Read Gaza's first case of polio in 25 years was confirmed last week in a 10-month-old boy who is now partially paralyzed
-
WHO declares mpox a global health emergencySpeed Read An outbreak of the viral disease formerly known as monkeypox continues to spread in Africa
-
Have we defeated malaria?The Explainer Roll-out of low-cost vaccine means a world free from disease that claims 600,000 lives a year 'finally within sight'
