U.S. Consultant Marjorie Taylor Greene, an outspoken critic of the COVID-19 vaccines, mentioned on Thursday she has no drawback with individuals who wish to get vaccinated, together with her mother and father.

Greene informed Steve Bannon on his Battle Room podcast that her mother and father acquired inoculated. Whereas it is one thing that Greene has rejected for herself, she informed Bannon that persons are free to make the selection however that it should not be required of anybody.

"I do not decide anybody for taking it. My very own mother and father took it," Greene mentioned. "A vaccine ought to be a selection."

Greene has accused President Joe Biden of dashing approval of the Pfizer vaccine for his political benefit, pushed the narrative that unvaccinated persons are faring positive in opposition to COVID-19 and mentioned that the vaccines are pointless.

Throughout Thursday's podcast, Greene likened the vaccines to Zicam, an over-the-counter chilly treatment. She mentioned they're each used to deal with cold-like signs and referred to as the vaccines ineffective at stopping the virus from spreading.

covid vaccine marjorei taylor greene
Consultant Marjorie Taylor Greene lately mentioned that her mother and father are vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 and that she has no drawback with individuals selecting to get inoculated. Above, Greene speaks at a information convention after visiting the Holocaust Museum outdoors the U.S. Capitol on June 14, 2021. Drew Angerer/Getty Photos

The vaccines aren't as efficient at stopping the coronavirus from spreading as specialists had hoped, however they nonetheless assist forestall an individual from contracting the virus. The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention mentioned this previous October that unvaccinated persons are 5 occasions extra more likely to get contaminated than vaccinated individuals, and 10 occasions extra more likely to contract the virus than individuals with a 3rd booster dose.

Together with pushing again in opposition to mandates, Greene tweeted on Christmas Eve that vaccines are solely wanted "when there isn't a remedy for a illness" and that there are "life-saving therapies" for COVID.

Remedies and therapeutics for COVID-19 have come a good distance because the begin of the pandemic, and America has added monoclonal antibodies to its arsenal, with two new antiviral tablets rolling out slowly. However extra individuals died of COVID-19 within the second yr of the pandemic than the primary. Apart from remdesivir, dexamethasone and high-flow oxygen, docs have had comparatively few therapies for COVID-19 and are sometimes left attempting to deal with problems from the virus.

Luckily, therapeutics have largely proved efficient in opposition to Omicron, the most recent variant of concern and the dominant one in the US. However Greene informed Bannon that Omicron is just not a "risk to anybody," a sentiment she additionally expressed in her December 24 Twitter thread.

Omicron has thus far brought on considerably milder instances of COVID-19 than the earlier variants have, and most of the people have been capable of recuperate at residence. Nonetheless, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Ailments, warned that if considerably extra individuals get sick from Omicron, in contrast with the Delta variants, there might be the identical uncooked variety of hospitalizations.

Though Omicron is more likely to predominantly trigger delicate instances, officers have urged individuals to get first pictures and a booster, as that diploma of inoculation is believed to assist forestall an contaminated particular person from changing into significantly unwell.