Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is expressing her opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates while pointing out that humans are not immortal and can be infected with other illnesses.
During an interview on Real America’s Voice, Greene admitted waiting rooms at hospitals are filling up.
However, she said, “Guess what, the waiting rooms are full of all kinds of things, not just Covid, car accidents, trauma, other illnesses, cancer, so forth. But they’re seeing about 30% of those numbers being Covid cases.”
She continued:
“Everyone needs to get back down to common sense and remember that, you know, we’re human, we can’t live forever, we are going to catch all kinds of diseases and illnesses and other viruses, and we get hurt sometimes.”
Finally, she said, “So, I’m all for let’s be rational with this, let’s be careful, let’s be cautious, and let’s not turn into an authoritarian regime that forces shots into [the] arms of people that don’t want it.”
Watch the video below:
Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene on COVID case surge: "Yes, the waiting rooms get full. But guess what? The waiting rooms are full of all kinds of things, not just COVID," adding "we're human, we can't live forever" pic.twitter.com/cA13oU7kAV
— Jason S. Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) August 12, 2021
Greene received a one-week suspension from Twitter earlier this week after she claimed the vaccines are “failing,” as she pointed to reports of vaccinated people being infected with the virus.
As CNBC notes, the vaccines are not 100% effective at preventing infection. However, people who are fully vaccinated are “highly protected against severe infection, hospitalization, and death caused by the virus.”
Greene has not shared whether or not she has been vaccinated against the virus. She told a reporter, “Your first question is a violation of my HIPAA rights. You see, with HIPAA rights, we don’t have to reveal our medical records, and that also involves our vaccine records.”
However, as Forbes notes Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) created standards to “protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.”
That means it is not a violation of HIPAA to ask someone about their vaccination status.
Her comments come as the country is adding an average of 124,234 new coronavirus cases per day.
As of Thursday, more than 618,000 Americans have died from the virus.