Less than half – 44.8% – of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a CNN analysis. House Democrats, on the other hand, are 100% vaccinated.
Overall, the vaccination rate is 72% among the 431 members of the House, although one hundred and twelve Republican offices did not respond to multiple CNN inquires.
Apparently that vaccination rate is not high enough for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who refused to drop the mask mandate on Friday.
Meanwhile, 92% of all Senators are inoculated. The holdouts are all members of the GOP.
The vaccination rate among elected officials in the Capitol tracks with the situation among rank-and-file partisans. From a Pew article:
About 13% of American adults don’t want a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Republicans are the most resistant; nearly 3 in 10 say they don’t want one. The share is greater among rural, Republican men, 35% of whom don’t want to get a vaccine.
Several GOP Congressmen seemed misinformed about the COVID-19 vaccines when CNN reached out:
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania told CNN, “I have the antibodies” when asked if he had been vaccinated. But experts don’t know how long antibodies last in a person who has recovered from Covid-19, and research suggests that coronavirus vaccines will provide better protection, especially when it comes to some of the worrying variants.
Senator Rand Paul also expressed confusion:
Paul, who is an ophthalmologist, and Johnson argue that the antibodies they have are protective against serious reinfection despite the fact the CDC has been advising people that they do not know how long immunity lasts and to get the vaccine even if they have had prior infections.
Other Republicans – like Sens. Kevin Cramer and Mike Braun – said medical decision are private and should not be discussed.
