Why was the COVID-19 vaccine politicized?

[GregTheGreat657]

The act of simply getting vaccinated was not politicized before, although more Dems than GOPers supported vaccine mandates for other diseases in public spaces. I just don't get it. You shouldn't be dying of a virus that had a vaccine that you didn't get to "own the Libs" or whatever a lot of the more conservative Republicans seem to think. The virus doesn't care about whether you are a conservative or liberal, Republican, Democrat, or otherwise. Vaccines save lives, and I am tired of many, especially on the right, denying a vaccine that is available to them. Why do you guys think this happened?

[Hindsight was 2020]

Because our political divide is based around education levels

[CEO Mindset]

to create more engagement for the news

[7,052,770]

Because the Fake News stories on Facebook about how dangerous/evil the vaccine is exclusively came from conservative sources that filled up the news feeds of Trump fans.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Anti-vax misinformation was always going to rear its head eventually, but Biden becoming President caused that to compound on top of deluded Trump voters' wilful ignorance and penchant for spite above all else.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Because we can never have anything nice in this country.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Due to fact it was thought that it was a magic cure but immigrants started pouring into the country because Biden thought Covid was over in July and started the Delta Varient

Biden should have enforced the Wall and kept building the Wall until he was sure that Covid was over, but he didnt

We had TB, Hepititis A and B, Small pox and Polio even with vaccines and we still have the flu, it takes time to get rid of Pandemic even if you are vaccinated, but Immigration activists wanted Immigration reform thru Reconciliation as soon as Biden was Prez, they couldn't wait and most Hospital and Clinics have immigrants

[pbrower2a]

Because our political divide is based around education levels

Educational levels are more polarizing than ethnicity. Well-educated people come from very different cultures and, even if they don't intermarry much, they recognize the validity of the cultural differences that they still have. Getting a degree from UC Berkeley in chemistry can give people from antipodal places (let us say Shanghai and Buenos Aires) much in common.

This said, white people from the wilderness areas of central Pennsylvania can have nothing in common with people from suburban Philadelphia, which could be about a two-hour drive. (There are few non-white people in Appalachia, so that is the more relevant distinction). Religion is likely different, and so are educational expectations.

[Senator Spark]

Politicizing the vaccine and masks was the worst thing that American politicians could have ever done. This stuff is serious and costs lives. Something as simple as these precautions saves many people especially those who are vulnerable or immunocompromised. This is one area where I wish politics could have not tainted.

[SWE]

Republicans want people to die

[HillGoose]

russian disinfo on facebook

idk how the anti-vaccine ppl don't see that their actions are playing directly into what the Russians and Chinese want, a sick and divided United States

[ProudModerate2]

The act of simply getting vaccinated was not politicized before, although more Dems than GOPers supported vaccine mandates for other diseases in public spaces. I just don't get it. You shouldn't be dying of a virus that had a vaccine that you didn't get to "own the Libs" or whatever a lot of the more conservative Republicans seem to think. The virus doesn't care about whether you are a conservative or liberal, Republican, Democrat, or otherwise. Vaccines save lives, and I am tired of many, especially on the right, denying a vaccine that is available to them. Why do you guys think this happened?

Covid was obviously a HUGE story, not just nationally but internationally.
"The right" jumped on it, knowing they could create polarization and their own identity ideas or thoughts (crazy and bats**t is they are/were), just to gain recognition with their constituents. And the worse part of all, is that the GOP leaders/politicians (at all levels of government) didn't give a crap about the lives they were jeopardizing and killing.
But of course, you and others in your party, just go on continuing to worship trump and GOP leaders responsible for this messy (deadly) situation.

[Big Abraham]

Because there is nothing that is not political.

[Alben Barkley]

Before this, I used to think that the right these days was essentially a cult driven from the top down by Trump.

But now I realize it's the opposite; it's a cult that will project whatever it wants to believe onto Trump from the bottom up, no matter what he actually says or believes.

I say this because even though Trump clearly and repeatedly endorsed the vaccine from the very start, even trying to take credit for it existing, his most rabid followers would sooner believe he is doing all that to try to reverse psychology the "TDS" libs out of taking it than they would believe that he sincerely believes it is a good thing. Never mind that if that were in fact the case, then Trump would be helping the libs by encouraging them not to take a dangerous vaccine; logic is not the strong suit of these people, after all, and I have seen them make this insane argument numerous times now.

At the end of the day, Trump is merely an avatar for a certain segment of our population (about 40% or so) that feels deeply alienated and scared by what they perceive as rapid changes to our society that are targeting them. Some of these people are bona fide schizophrenics who badly need mental help; others are people radicalized after spending too much time in online echo chambers where schizos and scammers provide them with all their "information;" others are simply people who feel angry about an economy they feel has left them behind and are looking for somewhere to direct their anger. Trump doesn't even have any solid beliefs of his own, doesn't even know what "true" or "false" means, so he's actually the PERFECT avatar for these people. Everything they say he will just repeat if he knows it will win him applause, and on the few occasions he does differ from them, they will just call it all part of a conspiracy or "the plan."

Point being that the fundamental divide between the far right and every other part of this country predated Trump and will outlive him; this whole vaccine insanity is just par for the course given that. What's really special about Trump is he put all the collective power of people who were previously laughing stocks (think Dale Gribble on King of the Hill) written off by society as wackjobs and he exploited their dangerous, previously untapped potential in the form of one person who actually had access to immense wealth and media resources, and used that to harness the fanaticism and mental problems of these people for political gain. See he is a sociopath who does not care about these people or the harm he inflicts on others as long as he "wins." The whole thing is very sick and twisted, and there is no neat narrative between good guys and bad guys, winners and losers. It's just modern America in the age of weaponized social media, and it's difficult to even wrap your head around unless you spend too much time exposing yourself to what these crazies actually think, which by itself is enough to drive just about anyone insane.

[Inmate Trump]

Ask Trump and Republicans.

They're the ones who politicized it.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

A combination of the issue already being polarized around lockdowns and masks, and the nihilist Republican party of Trump actively encouraging it.

[Progressive Pessimist]

russian disinfo on facebook

idk how the anti-vaccine ppl don't see that their actions are playing directly into what the Russians and Chinese want, a sick and divided United States

They likely don't care who validates their beliefs, just as long as they're validated at all. These are the real "sheeple."