Video of a father in Kentucky offering to pay his daughter $2000 so that she won’t get the COVID vaccine is demonstrating just how much anti-vaxxer misinformation has spread across the country.
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The video starts off in the middle of a conversation between Brianna, who goes by @appaloosauce on TikTok, and her father, who we never see. He’s trying to explain to her that he believes the vaccine is a “human trial” and “genetic therapy.”
“It’s not a vaccine,” he says. “It doesn’t fall under the category of a vaccine. It’s not FDA approved.”
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The FDA has authorized emergency use of the COVID vaccines currently being given out in the United States, which essentially means several steps of the process were completed simultaneously instead of long, drawn-out testing which could have added another year to the wait for a vaccine. All the vaccines are expected to eventually go into the pipeline for full FDA approval, but considering we are in a pandemic that has killed half a million Americans, emergency authorization makes sense.
But Brianna’s dad—and far too many others—have taken in all the conspiracy theories and fears fed to them about the vaccine not being safe, despite all the data proving otherwise.
“Why are you trying to buy me off?” she asks him.
“Because I love you! Why do you think I want to buy you off?” he replies. “I don’t know what else to do.”
Brianna points out that her siblings have been vaccinated, and it sends him over the edge.
“Don’t you think I know that?” he sobs. “Your mother got it! What do you think, I’m f—king crazy? My family is gone! My family is gone! By the end of this flu season, most of you will be dead!”
While the anti-vaxxer movement is frustrating and dangerous, hearing the emotion in this man’s voice as he genuinely believes he is pleading for his daughter’s life is a devastating reminder that the misinformation campaign about COVID and its vaccine has been so widespread and exacerbated, at times, by Fox News and Republican politicians, that all sorts of people are getting caught up in it.
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They have destroyed so many families. It’s heartbreaking. This dad really is trying to “save” his daughter’s life & sounds desperate. He unfortunately bought the GOP/Qanon lies.
—
SickofStupid
But some folks are so burned out on how this kind of thing has left us struggling with anti-maskers and people who don’t take COVID seriously for over a year, resulting in outbreaks and death on a large scale —and now they’re threatening our ability to fully end the pandemic even with a vaccine.
I don’t care about sounding harsh. If they think they don’t need something that is drastically reducing infections and deaths, then they shouldn’t ask for treatment at a healthcare facility when they ultimately get Covid or one of its variants.
— Robert Stokes (@rogue0306) May 26, 2021
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As for Brianna, she has confirmed on TikTok that she’ll still be getting the vaccine, despite her father’s pleas and bribery attempts.
*First Published: May 26, 2021, 7:00 am
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