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Blow: Anti-vax insanity

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2021, file photo, Dr. Yomaris Pena, Internal Medicine Physician with Somos Community Care at a COVID-19 extracts the last bit of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine out of a vial so as not to waste it at a vaccination site at the Corsi Houses in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York. An untold number of Americans have managed to get COVID-19 booster shots even though the U.S. government hasn't approved them. They're doing so by taking advantage of the nation's vaccine surplus and loose tracking of those who have been fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2021, file photo, Dr. Yomaris Pena, Internal Medicine Physician with Somos Community Care at a COVID-19 extracts the last bit of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine out of a vial so as not to waste it at a vaccination site at the Corsi Houses in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York. An untold number of Americans have managed to get COVID-19 booster shots even though the U.S. government hasn't approved them. They're doing so by taking advantage of the nation's vaccine surplus and loose tracking of those who have been fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2021, file photo, Dr. Yomaris Pena, Internal Medicine Physician with Somos Community Care at a COVID-19 extracts the last bit of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine out of a vial so as not to waste it at a vaccination site at the Corsi Houses in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York. An untold number of Americans have managed to get COVID-19 booster shots even though the U.S. government hasn't approved them. They're doing so by taking advantage of the nation's vaccine surplus and loose tracking of those who have been fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

By Charles M. Blow / The New York Times 4 min read

Nothing better exemplifies the gaping political divide in this country than our embarrassing and asinine vaccine response. Donald Trump’s scorched-earth political strategy has fooled millions of Americans into flirting with death. And now thousands are once again dying for it.

Almost from the beginning, efforts to combat the virus were met with disdain from a president who felt the crisis made him look bad. The science was denied.

All the while, the patients on ventilators gasped for breath, and refrigerated trailers filled with bodies. Death is one of the ultimate truths of life, and yet not even it could dissuade the headstrong from casting doubt on the science.

And then, a miracle.

In response to this raging, deadly virus, scientists developed multiple, highly effective vaccines with breathtaking speed. It was like a prayer had been answered.