Normally pugnacious Fox News host Jeanine Pirro went momentarily silent Tuesday on The Five during a segment on COVID-19 vaccines.
Co-host Jessica Tarlov was discussing how social media companies must “figure out a system to stop people from spreading” disinformation and misinformation about vaccines, though she was also was skeptical of Meta temporarily blocking searches for vaccine information.
Social media sites, she explained, are where many young people obtain information. “You need to find some safe middle ground where people know the vaccine is safe for you but you don’t—” Tarlov said before Pirro seemed to make a sound of disgust.
“What? You’re fine. You’re vaccinated,” Tarlov told her, giving her the chance to explain herself. But Pirro simply stared ahead, blank-faced, and waited until later in the segment to state her grievance, which was that the vaccine doesn’t prevent infection.
Tarlov then quickly jumped in, “But it keeps you alive.”
In December 2021, Fox News’ parent company, Fox Corporation, required employees working in New York City to be vaccinated. More than 90 percent of Fox’s employees had been vaccinated at that time, according to the company.
The following August, the mandate was dropped.
With new COVID-19 variants leading to a rise in hospitalizations and deaths, the Food and Drug Administration recently approved booster shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna designed to thwart the XBB.1.5 variant.
A Centers for Disease Control panel on Tuesday recommended that Americans 6 months old and up receive an updated vaccine. The CDC also announced last week that it found that antibodies from an existing vaccine or a prior bout with COVID-19 protect against one particular strain of the virus, BA.2.86.
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