Batya Ungar-Sargon: Unvaccinated COVID-19 deaths are ‘protest’ against the elite

Newsweek’s deputy opinion editor, Batya Ungar-Sargon, discussed how COVID-19 deaths among the unvaccinated are a sign of “protest” against the elite. 

“I wonder if it even makes sense to talk about this in the context of deaths of despair, right? It’s a protest against an elite that is benefitting and working, right?” Sargon said on Hill.TV’s “Rising” on Tuesday.

Her comments come as data shows that more people are now dying from the coronavirus in counties that voted for former president Trump, where vaccination rates are lower than Democratic-leaning areas.

Sargon discussed how some hesitation could stem from the coronavirus mandates and threats of losing jobs over not getting the vaccine.

“In a way, it’s almost like another way of saying, ‘I’m literally willing to die, ya know, on the crucible of sticking it to the elites. I have no other way of doing that except by sacrificing my own life,’” Sargon said. 

“So, of course, we do have some responsibility on our side for that kind of divide that makes that so attractive to people,” she added.

The coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be effective in preventing deaths, with a majority of COVID-19 deaths in hospitals occurring among the unvaccinated.


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