The Republican Doctors’ Caucus put out a PSA on Monday endorsing the COVID-19 vaccine amid higher rates of vaccine hesitancy among Republican-identifying Americans — especially the men — compared to the rest of the population.
In the ad, caucus chairs Reps. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) and several other members highlight the safety of the vaccine and the government’s “vigorous and transparent” process of making it.
The PSA is largely framed around how receiving the vaccine will lead Americans to regain “freedom” and “end the government’s restrictions on our freedoms.”
“I hope you’ll join me, along with over a hundred million Americans, in choosing to receive the vaccine so we can throw away our mask and live life as free as we did before,” the lawmakers say at the end of the video.
The effort was spearheaded by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), according to Punchbowl. The ad is currently just online, though Punchbowl reports that it may be aired on TV.
The PSA is part of some Republican lawmakers’ push to combat their voters’ disproportionate refusal to receive the vaccine after ex-President Donald Trump downplayed the importance of getting vaccinated and refused to receive the shot publicly.
“I’m a Republican man and I want to say to everyone, we need to take this vaccine,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said earlier this month. “These reservations need to be put aside because the only way, I think, we get to finally put this pandemic in the rearview mirror is with herd immunity.”
Watch the PSA below:
