Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is responding to critics who have slammed her for taking the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the elderly and frontline workers.
AOC received the first dose of the vaccine on Friday. This did not sit well with Republican Senator Rand Paul and Democratic U.S. representative Ilhan Omar who blasted the 31-year-old for jumping ahead of at-risk Americans who urgently need the vaccine. She shot back on Twitter by slamming the GOP for failing to take the virus seriously in the first place. She followed up her tweet with “@ me next time” seemingly directed at Rand.
In a follow-up tweet, the congresswoman doubled down on her stance, telling Rand that it was important to show that members of the government are also willing to take the vaccine and not just asking the public to do so in an effort to build trust.
“Our job is to make sure the vaccine isn’t politicized the way masks were politicized,” AOC tweeted.
This was in response to Rand tweeting on Monday that it is “unconscionable for AOC, who’s 30 years old, to be smiling gleefully and getting the vaccine when you got 85-year-old people in nursing homes who haven’t gotten it.”
Rand has stated that he would not be taking the vaccine ahead of the high-risk population because he has “immunity.”
“I was asked about getting vaccinated with others in Congress: It is inappropriate for me – who has already gotten the virus/has immunity – to get in front of elderly/healthcare workers,” Rand tweeted Monday.
Omar also voiced her disdain for fellow Congress members who jump in front of the vaccine line calling it “distrubring.”
“It’s now clear that we don’t have enough vaccines for everyone and there is shortage of supply, we have to prioritize those who need it most,” Omar tweeted on Sunday.
