Colorado Governor Jared Polis Urges Biden To Change Vaccine Rhetoric, Hints Big Change Coming

Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis said on Sunday that President Joe Biden needed to change the way that he talks about vaccines and that the definition of “fully-vaccinated” is likely to be changed in the near future.

“I think it’s really important that our leaders, whether they’re governors or mayors, local influencers, lead with facts rather than fear,” Polis told NBC News host Chuck Todd. “People just don’t react well to this ongoing environment of fear for two years. Let’s lead with the facts. Look, the science-driven information people need to keep themselves safe with the individual freedom and local control that we deserve. That’s where we are at this point. We know how to stop this thing. The – getting three doses of the vaccine is highly effective, and all but negates any risk that you face.”

When asked by Todd if there is going to be a change in “the definition of fully-vaccinated in your state,” Polis responded, “That’s certainly where it’s headed.”

“It looks like from everything that we know that to significantly reduce the risk of the Omicron variant, three doses of the vaccine are needed,” Polis claimed. “It’s three doses of that vaccine to be effective. So, I wish they’d stop talking about it as a booster. It really is a three-dose vaccine, and every piece of data that we’re seeing shows that that’s the case.”

When asked about what he would say to Biden if the president asked him for his advice, Polis responded, “I would say, ‘Stop talking about the vaccine as a booster; talk about it as three doses that are needed for effective prevention.’”

“People who’ve gotten those three doses in our Colorado data, which is similar to the national data, are 47 times less likely to die than people that are unvaccinated,” he continued. “It essentially negates the risk. Nothing is risk-free in life, Chuck, but you can go about, if you’re boosted, you can feel very confident that if you get COVID, it’ll be a minor case. I’d also say we need to focus on prices, increases in prices and cost that people across the country are facing. People are frustrated their Thanksgiving turkey cost 50% more, gas is $3.80 a gallon. Let’s show some relief. In Colorado, it’s cutting vehicle registration fees, it’s making it free to start a business. We’re trying to – we’ve cut taxes twice. So these kinds of things that show that we’re doing what we can to make sure that families can get by and thrive.”

CHUCK TODD: Welcome back. There is no question we’ve been whipsawed by COVID news. Good news, tens of millions are vaccinated. Bad news, Omicron means a third shot is even more essential. Good news, Omicron appears to cause less severe disease. Bad news, out of the U.K., maybe not. The science is not as clear. That makes the job of promoting public health that much harder for elected officials, particularly on the state and local level. Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, was asked just over a week ago why he opposed a mandatory mask mandate in his state.

[BEGIN TAPE]

GOV. JARED POLIS: The emergency is over. You know, public health doesn’t get to tell people what to wear. It’s just not their job. You don’t tell people to wear a jacket when they go out in the winter and force them to. If they get frostbite, it’s their own darn fault.

[END TAPE]

CHUCK TODD: And Governor Polis joins me now. Governor, welcome back to Meet the Press, sir.

GOV. JARED POLIS: Always a pleasure, Chuck.

CHUCK TODD: Look, a lot has changed since you made those comments on the issue of Omicron, literally in the last 72 hours. And I know you’ve clarified when it means emergency, meaning state action on the emergency. Given everything you’ve heard from Dr. Fauci, everything you’ve seen, are you having any second thoughts about the state intervening here temporarily, whether it’s a mask mandate or something else?

GOV. JARED POLIS: You know, Chuck, we’re two years into this thing. And I think it’s really important that our leaders, whether they’re governors or mayors, local influencers, lead with facts rather than fear. People just don’t react well to this ongoing environment of fear for two years. Let’s lead with the facts. Look, the science-driven information people need to keep themselves safe with the individual freedom and local control that we deserve. That’s where we are at this point. We know how to stop this thing. The – getting three doses of the vaccine is highly effective, and all but negates any risk that you face. So, we just need to make sure that people go out and do it.

CHUCK TODD: Are you going to change the definition of fully-vaccinated in your state? I know you have had – there’s some specific entities that

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