Ezekiel Emanuel: Governors 'Rewarding' People for Doing 'Social Harm' by Extending Unemployment Benefits to Unvaccinated

Former Biden transition team COVID-19 adviser Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel on Monday voiced his opposition to unemployment benefits for unvaccinated workers who lose their jobs over vaccine mandates.

GOP-led states like Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee have extended unemployment benefits to people who have lost their jobs over mandates. Reportedly, three other states are considering following suit.

Emanuel said on “CNN Tonight” that the governors were “rewarding” people for “doing social harm.” He decried the “incentive” and argued it did “just the opposite of what the country needs.”

“Well, I don’t like this incentive at all,” Emanuel emphasized. ‘I think this basically says people who are rejecting the vaccine mainly because they are against vaccinations are actually doing social harm, and now governors are rewarding them. That is a very bad incentive and just the opposite of what the country needs.”

“People who stayed unvaccinated are impinging on other people,” he added. “They are propagating the virus. They’re going to hospitals that are overloaded if they happen to get very sick. This is hardly individual liberty that does not affect the well-being of other people. No founding father would recognize this as a legitimate argument for individual liberty.”

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