Unlike many other Republican leaders, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says she has no plans to ratchet up her messaging to urge people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Republican governors and members of Congress across the country are trying to persuade vaccine skeptics to roll up their sleeves and take the shots as a new, more contagious variant sends caseloads soaring in some parts of the country.
Noem says it’s not that she doesn’t support getting vaccinated, it’s that she believes her messaging has reached “a saturation level where people start to tune you out.”
Critics point out that it’s been months since Noem used her position to encourage the vaccine and that COVID-19 infections in the state are on the rise again.