Lindsey Graham booed by own party for encouraging Covid vaccinations

‘If you haven’t had the vaccine, you ought to think about getting it because if you’re my age...’ senator says before being shouted down

Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was booed by his own party’s activists as he tried to encourage people to get vaccinated during a Q&A session.

Mr Graham was speaking at a Republican event in Summerville, South Carolina, where he told the audience that he was vaccinated and urged the assembled crowd to get the jab.

“If you haven’t had the vaccine, you ought to think about getting it because if you’re my age...” the 66-year-old Mr Graham started saying, but he was quickly interrupted by boos and people in the audience shouting “No!”

“I didn’t tell you to get it, you ought to think about it,” Mr Graham added as the heckles from his own voters continued.

The small crowd appeared to only grow more frustrated as Mr Graham cited data to support his case.

“Well, I’m glad I got it, 92 per cent of people in hospitals in South Carolina are unvaccinated,” he said, but was shouted down by people yelling “false!” and “not true!”

Mr Graham said he was opposed to vaccine mandates, mentioning mandates for members of the military and healthcare workers, such as nurses.

A man in the audience who said he was a civilian employee of the US navy told the senator that he was about to lose his job because of the vaccine mandate.

Mr Graham responded by asking the crowd if they had received the measles vaccine, a video posted by The Daily Beast shows.

“How many of you have taken measles shots?” he asked, but was booed again and met with shouts of “it’s not the same!”

Several Republicans have been slammed by their own voters for urging their supporters to get vaccinated. Even former President Donald Trump was booed during a rally in Alabama in August when he encouraged attendees to get the vaccine.

Whether you support the Republican or Democratic Party has become one of the top indicators of your vaccination status, polling has shown.

On 15 September, the Pew Research Centre wrote that “partisan affiliation remains one of the widest differences in vaccination status: 86% of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, compared with 60% of Republicans and Republican leaners”.

Mr Graham was infected with Covid-19 in early August.

“I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now,” Mr Graham tweeted at the time.

The senator was vaccinated on 19 December.

“Thank God for nurses who help people in need and know how to use a needle,” he tweeted. “Thank God for those who produced these vaccines. If enough of us take it, we will get back to normal lives. Help is on the way.”

A CDC report published last month found that the unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to die of Covid than those who have been inoculated.

Among all South Carolinians over the age of 12, 56 per cent were fully vaccinated as of Wednesday. Among the entire state population, 48 per cent have been fully vaccinated.

Over the last 14 days, the daily average of new cases has decreased by 36 per cent in the state.