Swalwell made the remark in a tweet on Friday after the House Judiciary Committee Republicans’ account tweeted, then deleted a spurious suggestion that the COVID-19 vaccine booster shots don’t “work.” The five-term Democrat insisted that Americans dealing with the consequences of the raging pandemic as the new year quickly approached should “look no farther” than Republicans promoting misinformation.
“As we end 2021, mired in a deadly pandemic, you should know who has prolonged it,” Swalwell tweeted. “THESE GUYS. Republican liars. Your vacation cancelled. Your kids back to virtual learning. And back to masks everywhere. For blame look no farther than #TheseGuys.”
The deleted tweet from the GOP committee members asked, “If the booster shots work, why don’t they work?” Although the basis for the Republicans questioning the efficacy of the boosters was not entirely clear, the claim that they do not work appeared to be a comment on a premise that is unsupported by facts.
No serious medical experts have claimed that COVID-19 vaccines or booster shots are 100 percent effective in stopping transmission of the virus. Instead, experts have argued that the shots are effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and reducing the severity of illness in those who get it—claims that have been backed up by research.
Booster shots have been recommended because the efficacy of the vaccines wane over time and because research has shown that variants like Omicron and Delta have partial, but not complete, resistance to the vaccines. The boosters are especially important to help reduce the quick spread of the Omicron variant, which is more resistant than previous strains of the virus.
Newsweek reached out to the office of Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, for comment.
In addition to the deleted tweet baselessly questioning whether COVID-19 booster shots work, the Republican committee members have in recent days tweeted or shared several messages blaming Democrats and President Joe Biden for the current state of the pandemic.
The GOP committee members’ account echoed a tweet from Jordan by blasting the president for having “failed” because he “didn’t shut down the virus,” in reference to an October 2020 tweet from Biden campaigning on the promise that he would “shut down the virus” instead of the country or the economy.
Jordan, who recovered from a bout of COVID-19 last summer after repeatedly arguing against preventive measures like mask wearing and social distancing, also questioned whether Democrats truly believed “that wearing a piece of cloth on your face would fix everything” in a tweet on Thursday.
It is not clear that any notable Democratic lawmakers have claimed that mask wearing alone would spell the end of the pandemic, although prominent members of both major parties have advocated mask wearing as a measure to reduce COVID-19 transmission.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suggested that people wear masks indoors, especially while transmission levels are high. A CDC analysis cites 18 different studies while concluding that “data support community masking to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2,” the virus that causes COVID-19.
