Texas Republican Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is blaming unvaccinated black people for the COVID crisis in the state.
Asked by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham to respond to critics saying Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s policies are responsible for the surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Texas, Patrick said: “The COVID is spreading, particularly, most of the numbers are with the unvaccinated.”
“And the Democrats like to blame Republicans on that, well, the biggest group in most states are African Americans who have not been vaccinated. Last time I checked, more than 90% of them vote for Democrats in their major cities and major counties,” he said.
“So its up to the Democrats….to try and get as many people vaccinated. But we respect the fact that if people don’t want the vaccination we’re not going to force it on them, that’s their individual right,” he continued. “But in terms of criticizing the Republicans for this, we’re encouraging people who wanna take [the vaccine] to take it. But they’re doing nothing for the African American community that has significant high numbers of unvaccinated people. They need to address that.”
Across the country, Republicans are among the biggest demographics that are hesitant or simply refusing to get vaccinated. It is no different in Texas where almost half of Republicans say they will not get the shot.
According to a Quinnipiac poll, 45 percent of Republicans said that they do not plan on getting vaccinated for COVID-19. In comparison, only 28 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats said the same.
A University of Texas/ Texas Tribune poll found that white Republicans have emerged as the demographic group that’s proven most consistently hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines, at 61 percent. 59% of all Republicans regardless of race, either said they are reluctant to get the vaccine or would refuse it outright.
The unvaccinated is responsible for up to 98 percent of all COVID hospitalizations in the state, and they are quickly running out of ICU beds.
Meanwhile, Gov. Abbott continues to fight recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit the spread of the virus. He has banned mask and vaccine mandates and threatened to take legal action against any government entity or school district that defy his order.
About 46 percent of Texans are fully vaccinated.
