Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., stars in a new public service announcement aimed at encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
"As a boy, I fought polio," McConnell says in the 30-second PSA, CNN reported Tuesday. "Today, America's been polio-free for 40 years — thanks to vaccinations. We'll beat COVID-19 with vaccines, too. Protect yourself and your family. Get vaccinated."
The ad, the second by McConnell to try to convince Americans to get inoculated, is aimed at hesitant Republicans. Earlier this summer, the leader used funds from his reelection campaign to air a radio ad across 100 radio stations in his home state.
McConnell’s office said the new PSA, a joint effort by the National Association of Broadcasters and the Kentucky Broadcasters Association, began airing last week and has already run more than 100 times across local TV stations in Kentucky.
"I think the best thing for me to do is to say how I feel about it, and to try to encourage those people who care what I think to do right thing," McConnell said Monday after a local event in Kentucky, CNN reported.
COVID-19 cases continue to rise, and unvaccinated patients infected with the highly contagious delta variant overwhelm hospitals across the country, CNN reported.
A new Axios-Ipsos poll Tuesday found the number of Americans saying they weren't likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine is declining, dropping from 34% in March to 20%.
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