CNN host Don Lemon on Monday urged fully vaccinated Americans to get back to “some semblance of normalcy” after he revealed his mother has so far refused to see a dentist out of fear of catching COVID-19.
During his nightly handoff with fellow CNN host Chris Cuomo, Mr. Lemon said he didn’t get to spend Mother’s Day with his mom, because like many Americans, she’s reluctant to resume her normal activities despite being fully vaccinated.
“She won’t get on a plane and she can wear a mask,” he said. “I said, ‘Mom, I’ll send a car for you or one of those Sprinters. She won’t do it. I’m going to honest, she’s going to be mad at me, she chipped her tooth during the pandemic and she won’t go to the dentist. And I say, ‘Mom, you can go to the dentist, it’s safe.’ [CNN medical correspondent] Sanjay [Gupta] is going to do a house call on her because this is real, people are having trouble remerging into society.”
Mr. Lemon continued, “If you are going to say, ‘I believe in the science and the scientists,’ then now, on this side of the pandemic, you must believe in the science and scientists as well, who are saying, ‘If you’re fully vaccinated, you don’t have to wear a mask outside, if you want to travel you can, wear a mask, follow the protocols.’ But it is 99.99 or whatever percent chances that you won’t get the COVID — you won’t get COVID. Then you should trust in that science as well and get back to your life.”
“I agree,” Mr. Cuomo said.
“My mom is a woman of certain age,” Mr. Lemon continued. “I don’t know how much time any of us has. I could walk out of here and get hit by a bus. I want to live my life. I want to see my loved ones. So, can we get back to some semblance of normalcy? And we cannot be afraid to go back into normal society. It defies reality. It defies logic.”
Mr. Cuomo agreed, saying the messaging from the Biden administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had done a poor job at promoting the vaccine’s effectiveness by keeping too many restrictions in place.
“I am with you,” Mr. Cuomo responded. “This messaging about the vaccine has not been good enough. They still make you feel like it’s not like every other vaccine that you ever have in your life, where you may still get it, you should still wear a mask, you can still have enough to be contagious, you can still spread it. You know? I get why people like your mom and my mom did not feel the confidence that we were supposed to have in getting this vaccine. And I still don’t think they’re allowing the numbers and the science to rule.”
Mr. Lemon added that people needed to “believe in the science,” “believe in facts” and “believe in reality.”
