NYU medical ethics director tells CNN's John Berman he'd reach out to the unvaccinated by condemning, shaming, and '[penalizing] them more' [video]

Sarah D | 11:53 AM on January 05, 2022

On CNN this morning, “New Day” cohost John Berman wondered aloud why those who have been vaccinated and boosted need to be concerned about unvaccinated people’s decision not to get vaccinated. He got a pretty intense response from guest Arthur Caplan, the ironically named Director of Medical Ethics at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine:

CNN medical guest on unvaccinated Americans: "I’ll condemn them. I’ll shame them. I’m blame them … We can penalize them more, say you will have to pay more on your hospital bill. You can’t get life insurance, disability insurance at affordable rates if you aren’t vaccinated." pic.twitter.com/eH6fgT2B7W

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 5, 2022

Did we mention that he’s a director of medical ethics?

CNN’s @JohnBerman: “It’s the unvaccinated who aren’t wearing masks, it’s the unvaccinated who aren’t social distancing, it’s the unvaccinated going to crowded indoor events, so there’s this bizarre irony where the ones who are behaving are the ones being told to behave 10x more" pic.twitter.com/m7e0rbw3PZ

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 5, 2022

The great thing about the development of COVID vaccines is that once the vaccines became available, people who wanted to could choose to get vaccinated. The idea was that they would be using the best tools at their disposal to minimize the spread and mitigate the severity of COVID. In theory, at least, they shouldn’t obsess over what the unvaccinated are doing.

But John Berman seems to have a real issue with the unvaccinated, despite the fact that, contra Joe Biden, it’s largely the vaccinated who are spreading COVID, because often their cases of COVID are milder or even asymptomatic and thus they’re more likely to spread the virus without knowing it. And Arthur Caplan seems to have a weird vendetta against the unvaccinated. It’s legitimately deranged.

I’m shocked and saddened by how quickly the ethics of the medical profession shifted to include threats and coercion to force medical treatments on people who don’t consent. A 180 degree pivot on a dime. And they wonder why so many no longer trust the experts.

— SomeWiggleRoom (@SomeWiggleRoom) January 5, 2022