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- Fox New host Sean Hannity encouraged viewers to get COVID-19 vaccines on Monday.
- “I can’t say it enough. Enough people have died. We don’t need any more death,” he said.
- Hannity has previously repeatedly called the pandemic a hoax.
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Several Fox News hosts include Sean Hannity recanted their disinformation campaigns on COVID-19 vaccines on Monday as the network faces criticism for misinformation on the virus, safety measures, and vaccinations.
Hannity on Monday urged viewers to get vaccinated. He encouraged them to take the pandemic “seriously” and said he believed in the “science of vaccines.”
“Just like we’ve been saying, please take COVID seriously,” Hannity said on Monday. “I can’t say it enough. Enough people have died. We don’t need any more death.”
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He urged viewers to “research like crazy” and come to a decision on the vaccine with their medical provider.
“Take it seriously. You also have a right to medical privacy, and doctor-patient confidentiality is also important,” he stated. “And it absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science, I believe in the science of vaccination.”
However, before declaring his support for vaccines, Hannity was critical of universities for mandating vaccinations in response toa federal judge’s decision to uphold Indiana University’s vaccine policy requiring students and staff to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus, the Daily Beast reported.
Hannity has previously called the virus a hoax, and also repeatedly denied calling the virus a hoax, The Washington Post reported.
The Hill reported that in two separate segments of Fox & Friends, hosts Steve Doocy and Bill Hemmer both spoke positively of vaccines.
“If you have the chance, get the shot, it will save your life,” Doocy said.
The switch in tone comes after The New York Times ran a story detailing statements made by Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham that were against expert public health advice on vaccines.
It also comes after a CNN report that while hosts like Carlson have attacked vaccine passports, the media corporation has rolled out its own version of the vaccine passport.
In a Daily Beast op-ed, early this month, former network executive Preston Padden, who worked under Rupert Murdoch called Fox “poison for America,” blamed it for fueling vaccine hesitance, and said it caused “unnecessary” deaths.
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