Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he hopes the pause in the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson
JNJ,
COVID-19 vaccine won’t blunt efforts to get more people vaccinated against the virus.
McConnell, while back in Kentucky over the two-week break the Senate just finished, had urged Republicans, especially Republican men who have shown evidence of being one of the most vaccine-hesitant groups, to get vaccinated. He blamed the resistance on “confusion” sown by the 2020 election.
Read more: Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause: what to know if you got or scheduled the shot
Asked at weekly press conference in Washington if he worried the pause announced Tuesday would make people more reluctant to get vaccinated, McConnell said, “I hope not, because we have two other vaccines that are not in dispute. And almost every state has, I believe, the other two.”
MConnell again said everyone should get a shot to help the U.S. reach herd immunity and that goal was getting closer.
“If you’re a football fan, it seems to me we’re in the red zone. We’re not in the end zone,” he said, referring to the term for a team on offense being within the opposing team’s 20-yard line and thus more likely to score.
