Former Alaska Republican Governor Sarah Palin insisted she would get a COVID-19 vaccine "over my dead body" during an appearance at a Turning Point USA conference.
Palin told the crowd of conservatives she doesn't need to be inoculated because she previously had the virus.
Palin, who has often downplayed the pandemic's severity since it began and earned applause from conservative organizations in the process, pushed the "herd immunity" argument in her remarks to host Charlie Kirk.
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Palin said:
"We were led to believe that we wouldn't have to have the shot. Well then they changed their tune and now those of us who have had Covid, they're telling us that even though we've had it and we have natural immunity now that we still have to get a shot."
"It will be over my dead body that I'll have to get a shot. I will not do it."
She then encouraged her listeners to "rise up" and refuse to get a vaccine, saying there are "more of us than there are of them."
"You need to all look around and realize as you stiffen your spine and take those positions and we know our rights, especially when it comes to the government telling us what we have to inject in our own bodies, realize that those around you—as you stiffen your spine—their spines too will stiffen."
Palin's views are incorrect.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long debunked claims natural immunity is more beneficial than the vaccine.
In fact, a study published in August showed "unvaccinated individuals are more than twice as likely to be reinfected with COVID-19 than those who were fully vaccinated after initially contracting the virus."
It also pointed out COVID-19 vaccines "offer better protection than natural immunity alone and that vaccines, even after prior infection, help prevent reinfections."
The agency continues to stress the importance of getting the vaccine as the best line of defense against COVID-19.
"COVID-19 vaccines remain safe and effective. They prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death.
"Additionally, even among the uncommon cases of COVID-19 among the fully or partially vaccinated vaccines make people more likely to have a milder and shorter illness compared to those who are unvaccinated. CDC continues to recommend everyone 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19."
Palin's remarks exposed her to criticism from the online community, which pointed out she's only putting herself at greater risk and the phrase "over my dead body" could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Palin revealed she had not gotten the vaccine during a media appearance in September, and then, too, insisted having previously been infected with Covid-19 overrides the benefits of the vaccine.
Though Palin has continued to minimize the seriousness of the pandemic, she has, ironically, promoted mask-wearing, particularly after she herself caught COVID-19 earlier this year.
She told People "despite my joking that I’m blessed to constantly breathe in the most sterile air, my case is perhaps one of those that proves anyone can catch this.”
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