Broadcaster Piers Morgan last month attributed his “rough” COVID-19 infection to “anti-vaxxers,” despite having received both the vaccination and a booster shot.
“UPDATE: I’ve tested positive for Covid, and feel as rough as a badger’s a*se, but in the spirit of ‘The Show Must Go On’, I’m going to have a go at anchoring tonight’s @PiersUncensored live from my home. Tune in at 8pm, because anything could happen….” Morgan wrote on X.
A number of users highlighted the vaccine’s low effectiveness and questioned the talk show host’s strong endorsement of vaccines during the pandemic, particularly when he suggested that those who were not vaccinated should be refused access to healthcare.
Morgan responded to users who questioned why vaccinated individuals appear to have greater rates of COVID-19 infection by stating that the unvaccinated are “incredibly stupid.”
“I heard — from someone on the internet — it’s because Covid doesn’t infect incredibly stupid people due to the lack of available brain cells to infiltrate,” he wrote.
In reaction to a comment made by influencer Andrew Tate, Morgan attributed his choice to not receive the newest booster shot, which he believed would provide protection against COVID-19, to “anti-vaxx imbeciles.”
“Thanks for your concern, Andrew. Ironically, if I’d had another covid booster I wouldn’t have caught the damn thing again and wouldn’t be feeling so rough. That’ll teach me for listening to ill-informed anti-vaxx imbeciles on the internet… !”
Thanks for your concern, Andrew. Ironically, if I’d had another covid booster I wouldn’t have caught the damn thing again and wouldn’t be feeling so rough. That’ll teach me for listening to ill-informed anti-vaxx imbeciles on the internet… ! https://t.co/YzlOSEQIvD
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 7, 2023The comments were made more than a year after the ex-CNN host attempted to retract his aggressive criticism towards individuals who declined to receive the vaccinations.
“I’ve got no problem with those refusing to have the covid vaccines, so long as they have no problem with history recording them as selfish pr*cks who only cared about themselves in a global pandemic,” Morgan said in July 2021.
In that same month, Morgan advocated for the denial of health treatment to people who declined to receive the vaccinations.
“Those who refuse to be vaccinated, with no medical reason not to, should be refused NHS care if they then catch covid. I’m hearing of anti-vaxxers using up ICU beds in London at vast expense to the taxpayer. Let them pay for their own stupidity & selfishness.”
Piers Morgan
Morgan had previously proposed that individuals who refused the injections should be “isolated” and denied employment. During an October 2022 discussion on Piers Morgan Uncensored with renowned physicist Neil Degrasse Tyson, Morgan said he “took quite firm views.”
“It seemed to me, Neil, when this was all happening – the pandemic – I took quite firm views throughout it, like a lot of people, I guess – one of which was when it was believed when the vaccines when the vaccines first came along that they would stop transmission, it seemed to me if you refused to be vaccinated, you shouldn’t be entitled to the same rights to go to nightclubs and stuff as those who’d taken the vaccine and were therefore not able to transmit it.”
Morgan made a misleading statement about changing his stance on the vaccination once it was established that it does not prevent transmission.
“However, when it was established that vaccines didn’t actually stop transmission, they just stopped all the people getting very sick and dying, the argument to then suppress any liberties or freedoms of the unvaccinated, to me, it went away. Because in that instance, if the ability to pass it on is pretty well the same if you’ve been jabbed or not, then really it’s down to the individual if they want to protect themselves from this virus. So I changed my mind,” Morgan said.
By July 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had already made a public admission that the immunizations did not effectively prevent transmission, more than a year prior. Morgan continued to attack anyone who declined the shots.
“Imagine being scared of having a safe, well-regulated, 4-second vaccine shot, when previous generations braved gun shots for years on end to save us all from tyranny? Anti-vaxxers really are a bunch of spineless pussies,” tweeted Morgan in November 2021.
In September 2021, Morgan strongly criticized superstar rapper Nicki Minaj for her skepticism against the vaccine and her belief that receiving the injection should be an individual decision, stating, “She’s peddling lies that will cost lives.”
In December 2021, the ex-Good Morning Britain host expressed his opinion to his sizable following of almost 8 million followers, stating that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s decision to decline the experimental injections was deemed as “unfathomably dumb”. Furthermore, he criticized Trump supporters by labeling them as “anti-vaxxers” and “vaccine skeptics.”
In January 2022, Morgan expressed approval of Australia’s move to deny entry to world champion tennis player Novak Djokovic for the Australian Open based on his vaccination status.
During his show with Tyson, Morgan attempted to portray himself as the victim.
“I got pilloried when I said my original statement, I got pilloried when I changed my mind. I got pilloried by everyone during the pandemic about all of it,” he said as he and Tyson laughed. “And yet to me it seemed perfectly logical, honestly, to just change my mind because facts change.”
However, Morgan’s persistent use of rhetoric against individuals who choose not to receive the vaccine reaffirms the conclusions drawn by academics that the unvaccinated have long been subject to widespread animosity, a sentiment that predates the COVID-19 outbreak.
A 2022 study conducted by Aarhus University in Denmark aimed to assess the extent of bias towards individuals who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine. This was assessed by inquiring about participants’ sentiments about an unvaccinated individual against COVID-19 entering into a marital relationship with a member of their family.
The study, conducted across 21 nations with 10,740 respondents, found that those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine expressed a reluctance to have a close relative marry someone who is unvaccinated. This sentiment is categorized as “antipathy” in the study. Respondents actually exhibited 2.5 times greater aversion towards the unvaccinated compared to Middle Eastern migrants, “a group battling high levels of discrimination globally.”
It is worth mentioning that the individuals who were not vaccinated did not exhibit any hostility towards those who were immunized.
“[W]e find that discriminatory attitudes towards the unvaccinated is as high or higher than discriminatory attitudes directed towards other common and diverse targets of prejudice including immigrants, drug-addicts and ex-convicts. At the same time, the results demonstrate that prejudice is mostly one-sided,” concluded the researchers.
In addition to animosity, survey participants expressed their support for revoking the political rights of the unvaccinated and imposing familial exclusion on them.
According to Dr. Josh Guetzkow, a specialist in criminal justice and social policy, this is not a novel occurrence. Indeed, this worldview has persisted for several decades.
“The fact is that ‘anti-vaxxers’ are one of the only groups that people are now allowed, even encouraged, to hate openly,” wrote Guetzkow in an article. “This was true before COVID and has only worsened in the last year, as politicians, gov’t officials and journalists ramped up incitement against ‘anti-vaxxers’.”
“Perhaps the most amazing thing about these statements is that people felt that it was OK to express these opinions ‘out loud’ in public on-line settings and were often encouraged and congratulated by others,” Guetzkow added. “This is in contrast to other forms of prejudice that people have become more reluctant to express openly as such views are seen as illegitimate or not acceptable in polite society. But here they felt no shame.”
