Some GOP leaders are scornful or silent about booster shots seen as key to fighting omicron

As coronavirus cases surged in Florida last summer, Gov. Ron DeSantis urged people to get vaccinated.

“If you look at the people that are being admitted to hospitals . . .. over 95% of them are either not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all,” he said at a news conference. “These vaccines are saving lives.”

Last month the governor struck a different tone when asked on Fox News if he has received a vaccine booster shot - which health officials call one of the public’s most important tools against the omicron variant fueling a new wave of infections.

“So, I’ve done whatever I did,” said the GOP star considered a potential contender for the presidency in 2024. “The - the normal shot, and that at the end of the day is people’s individual decisions about what they want to do.”

The push for widespread booster shots to protect against omicron has highlighted the United States’ persistent partisan divides over vaccination, with some Republican leaders silent on the issue and some disparaging shots anew as the meaning of “fully vaccinated” evolves along with the coronavirus.

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said last week that he has no plans to get boosted, telling a reporter, “I’m perfectly healthy.” A few days later, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee used their official Twitter account to spread false information, asking: “If the booster shots work, why don’t they work?” The tweet was later deleted. And former president Donald Trump got booed recently after telling a crowd that he got an additional dose of the vaccines he considers great achievements of his administration.

The lack of unified messaging on the value of booster shots comes at a critical time in the pandemic, when experts worry that omicron will swamp hospitals due to its high transmissibility, even as research suggests the variant causes milder illness. With one third of fully vaccinated people in the U.S. having been boosted, public health officials trying to distribute third doses are up against time as well as months of misinformation and fights over vaccine mandates that some worry have made the issue more polarized.

Governors - Democrats as well as Republicans - have sought to recalibrate Americans’ ideas of what it means to be vaccinated, as it becomes clear that existing vaccines are less effective against omicron. Booster shots increase protection against infection, hospitalization and death, researchers say; vaccinated people can still get covid-19 but are far less likely to become seriously ill.

“Nobody should think of a booster as just a bonus or an extra dose,” tweeted Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a more moderate Republican, last week. On Monday he announced new coronavirus measures, including paid leave for state employees to get their additional dose.

Some others in the GOP have not made vaccination a focus as omicron sends nationwide coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations spiking.

“I think that politicians are realizing we’re now a year away from midterms . . . They’re saying, well, you know, this is not something where I’m going to come out pro-booster because I’ve got to keep my base solidified,” said David Pate, a former health system CEO who has advised Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little on the coronavirus.

Pate, who is a Republican, praised Little but criticized other state leaders for spreading bad information. Idaho’s Republican lieutenant governor, for instance, has falsely suggested that vaccinated people are more likely to die, and gave a platform to a doctor who has called coronavirus vaccines “fake.”

Pate also believes some conservative leaders, such as Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, have fanned “hostility” to vaccines while fighting mandates, “rather than having press conferences pleading with the people of Texas, ‘Hey the vaccine is safe, I’ve had it’ . . . [or] role-modeling and wearing your mask and having people see you doing that.”

Said Pate: “Those are the kinds of behaviors you’d like to see from elected officials.”

Abbott’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday. He has encouraged vaccination, and Renae Eze, a spokesperson, told the Texas Tribune last month that it is the “best defense” against covid-19. But the Tribune also said in the Dec. 23 story that the word “booster” had yet to show up on Abbott’s personal Twitter account and said a spokesperson did not respond when asked if Abbott got boosted.

Asked Monday if Florida’s DeSantis has received a booster shot, spokeswoman Christina Pushaw wrote in an email that she is “not privy to the governor’s private medical decisions and . . . unable to share information about his booster status or plans.”

“Governor DeSantis has consistently said that vaccination (and by extension, boosters) should be a personal choice, and anyone who has questions or concerns should consult with a healthcare provider,” Pushaw wrote.

She compared Florida’s rate of booster shots with several Democrat-led jurisdictions where leaders have been vocal about boosters and embraced more coronavirus restrictions. Florida’s booster rate among the vaccinated - 31% - is higher than the District of Columbia’s rate of 26.5% and close to New York’s rate of 32%, she said.

In the Fox News interview where he was asked about boosters, DeSantis’s comments on vaccination were about his opposition to mandates. He noted Florida’s ban on “vaccine passports,” saying that “one of the reasons why we took those steps is because we knew the definition of vaccination would be a shifting target.”

“We’re gonna continue focusing on early treatment and we’re gonna continue protecting people’s individual choices and freedom,” DeSantis said.

His challengers for the governorship took note of the interview. “What @GovRonDeSantis won’t tell you is that the booster shot is effective against the omicron variant,” tweeted Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, a former Florida governor who is running again. “Ron is once again SOFT on COVID and it’s costing lives.”

Florida Democratic agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried, another candidate, got her booster shot last week in front of cameras.

Research on booster shots’ effectiveness against omicron is still emerging, but encouraging. A study from South Africa found that the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided 33% protection against being infected by omicron and 70% protection against hospitalization, far less than for other variants. But data from Britain showed that a Pfizer-BioNTech booster restored protection against symptomatic illness to about 75%, and researchers expect higher prevention of severe cases.

Chunhuei Chi, director of Oregon State University’s Center for Global Health, said the messaging about booster shots in his state and across the nation could be more aggressive given the highly contagious nature of omicron along with the less-than-ideal percentage of people who have been fully vaccinated.

Striking the right tone on boosters is also a delicate matter, he said, as officials try to reach those who have already rolled up a sleeve as well as those who are hesitant or against vaccines.

“We don’t want to give the other group the impression that the vaccine is not effective,” he said. “The boosters both reduce the risk of getting infected or spreading, and they dramatically reduce hospitalization and death. That part needs to be emphasized. The vaccine is not fully effective in preventing transmission and infection.”

Richard Garfein, a professor at the University of California-San Diego’s school of public health, said he and his professional peers have been mulling the resistance to vaccination and boosters. He said most people have likely received boosters for ailments such as polio, hepatitis B and measles.

Garfein said he understands why shifting recommendations on vaccination would erode trust in public health authorities, even as they reflect changing data.

“The coronavirus is new to us, so we’re learning a lot about how this virus is behaving and mutating,” he said. “This isn’t that strange to expect that we might need a booster dose for stronger, longer protection. As long as the virus is circulating around the world, every single infection creates a manufacturing plant for the virus.”