LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky Congressman says he won’t be taking the coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available.
Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie tweeted on Thursday that he hopes a vaccine is developed soon, but he doesn’t plan to use it.
When asked about it by the Courier Journal, Massie said in a statement that he didn’t see the vaccine as necessary for him.
“I’m not in a high-risk category and I trust my natural immune system response over a pharmaceutically stimulated response,” he said.
Massie’s tweet came after President Donald Trump said during a presidential debate with former Vice President Joe Biden that a vaccine could come within weeks.
Nurse practitioner Alexandra Owensby, who is running against Massie in the Nov. 3 election, said in a statement that “the problem is people feel like the vaccine has been rushed.”
Owensby says she hopes at some point most Americans will trust the vaccine enough to get it.
