Throughout the pandemic that's killed over 600 thousand Americans and upended daily life in the United States for more than a year, conservative elected officials and media personalities have actively spread disinformation regarding its severity and treatment.
From railing against the use of masks to promoting bogus treatments like hydroxychloroquine, conspiracy theories surrounding the virus have been rampant in the right-wing media sphere.
These delusions have permeated to the lifesaving vaccines against the virus, which are widely available and proven to be safe and effective. Conspiracy theorists have claimed the vaccine is magnetized or microchipped, or even that it's more dangerous than the virus itself.
What's more, the Biden administration's efforts to encourage the public to take the vaccine has been painted as a federal overreach. Far-right provocateurs have compared a volunteer door-to-door vaccine information initiative to historic scourges like the gestapo.
Now, the state representative chairing the New Hampshire House Finance Committee, Ken Weyler, and his GOP colleagues delayed the distribution of $27 million in federal funding for vaccine outreach in the state, citing concerns over "Big Pharma" and claiming it's unnecessary.
Weyler said:
"They want everybody to get the shot. Why? Are they getting paid off by Big Pharma? Is there something in the shot that's going to help them control us? There's lots of things I'm reading that make me very suspicious."
In the same hearing of the consequential vote, Weyler falsely told New Hampshire Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette that he believed the majority of COVID-related hospitalizations were among vaccinated people, citing no sources.
People were disgusted at the development.
They said he was focusing on the wrong targets to fight Big Pharma.
It's unclear when the funds will be released.
