他的家乡路易斯安那州创下了新冠肺炎病例和住院人数的新纪录史蒂夫·斯卡利斯，拉-拉。，星期二鼓励居民接种疫苗，宣传疫苗的安全性和有效性疫苗敦促人们和他们的医生交谈担心什么。
“与其试图责怪人们，不如鼓励人们保护自己，”周二早上接种了第二剂辉瑞疫苗的斯卡利斯告诉美国广播公司新闻记者基拉·菲利普斯美国广播公司新闻直播。“在住院方面，你会看到没有接种疫苗的人出现得最多，所以你想鼓励人们接种疫苗。”
在新奥尔良接受第二剂疫苗接种后不久，斯卡利斯告诉美国广播公司下属的WGNO，“这不是你偏离某人在互联网上所说的话的事情。“你和你的医生谈论任何健康决定，这是其中之一。”
“我强烈鼓励人们接种疫苗。它安全、有效，任何想要的人都可以使用。”有代表性的@ SteveScaleise连接@ABCNewsLive讨论新冠肺炎疫苗在德尔塔变种传播中的重要性。https://t.co/Wxy8SAEoVUpic.twitter.com/s04Yj3omT7
—美国广播公司新闻直播(@美国广播公司新闻直播)2021年8月10日
超过2800人就医路易斯安那州的新冠肺炎，比上一年增加了数百人冠状病毒汹涌澎湃。直到周二，它被佛罗里达州路易斯安那州在新新冠肺炎病例中领先全国。只有37%的州完全接种了疫苗，是全国接种率最低的州之一。
路易斯安那州民主党州长约翰·贝尔·爱德华兹(John Bel Edwards)上周五表示，他最近恢复了一项新的室内口罩授权，以帮助阻止病毒传播推特他和他的妻子将禁食，并为受大流行影响的一线卫生工作者和居民祈祷。该州最高卫生官员暗示的可能需要更积极的措施。
就像附近德克萨斯州和佛罗里达州的共和党州长一样采取措施防止当地社区和学校无法实施新的口罩规定——佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)甚至威胁要扣发实施这些规定的公共教育工作者的工资——众议院第二号共和党人斯卡利斯(Scalise)表示，“归根结底，这些都是需要在学校董事会层面进行的对话。”
他说:“我会鼓励人们继续参与地方层面，在他们应该参与的地方进行对话，而不是在联邦层面。“让当地社区的人们做出最适合自己的决定，开放学校。”
当被问及共和党阿肯色州州长阿萨·哈钦森(Asa Hutchinson)时，斯卡利斯说，“让那些当地的对话进行下去吧。”哈钦森最近表示，他很后悔在春天签署了一项禁止当地口罩授权的法律
斯卡利斯批评了疾病控制和预防中心最近更新的联邦口罩指南，他没有抨击国防部宣布将在9月中旬前要求批准新冠肺炎疫苗成为所有美国军人的强制性疫苗，称他将“让将军们来决定什么是最好的军队管理方式。”
“我仍然不希望看到联邦政府制定这种命令，”他补充道。
这位路易斯安那州共和党人在12月作为国会议员首次有资格接种疫苗，他在7月接受了第一剂疫苗。当被问及推迟的原因时，斯卡利斯说，他等待是因为抗体检测呈阳性，这表明他之前感染了病毒。疾控中心已经找到新冠肺炎疫苗比以前感染的抗体提供了更强的抗病毒保护。
“最终在delta变体中，我看到了医院中的激增，主要是因为医院中超过98%的COVID患者没有接种疫苗。这就是我决定接种疫苗的时候，”他说。“我很高兴我做到了，非常安全有效。”
另外，斯卡利斯表示，他计划反对两党基础设施法案参议院周二早些时候批准了该法案，当时众议院正在讨论该法案，因为民主党计划将其与一项更广泛的3.5万亿美元的一揽子政策相结合，他们计划仅以民主党的选票推进该法案。
17名共和党参议员与所有民主党人一起投票支持1万亿美元的基础设施措施星期二。
他告诉美国广播公司新闻直播，“这与其说是关于基础设施，不如说是关于税收和支出，议长佩洛西非常清楚地表明了这一点。“有很多支出与基础设施无关，它们将是税收增加，这将损害就业，这将损害中产阶级家庭。”
Rep. Steve Scalise promotes 'safe and effective' COVID-19 vaccine after getting 2nd shot
With his home state of Louisiana setting new records for COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Rep.Steve Scalise, R-La., on Tuesdayencouraged residentsto get vaccinated, touting the safety and efficacy of thevaccinesand urging people to talk to their doctorsabout any concerns.
"Instead of trying to blame people, let's encourage people to protect themselves," Scalise, who received his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine Tuesday morning, told ABC News Correspondent Kyra Phillips onABC News Live. "In terms of hospitalizations, that's where you see people that aren't vaccinated showing up the most and so you want to encourage people to get it."
"It's not something where you go off what someone says on the internet," Scalise told ABC affiliate WGNO about vaccinations shortly after receiving his second dose in New Orleans. "You talk to your doctor about any health decision, and this is one of those."
"I would strongly encourage people to get the vaccine. It's safe, it's effective, it's available for anybody who wants it."Rep.@SteveScalisejoins@ABCNewsLiveto discuss the importance of COVID-19 vaccines amid the spread of the delta variant.https://t.co/Wxy8SAEoVUpic.twitter.com/s04Yj3omT7
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive)August 10, 2021
More than 2,800 people arehospitalizedwith COVID-19 in Louisiana -- hundreds more than the state experienced during the lastcoronavirussurge. Until Tuesday, when it was overtaken byFlorida, Louisiana led the country in new COVID-19 cases. Just 37% of the state is fully vaccinated, among the lowest rates in the country.
Louisiana's Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who recently reinstated a new indoor mask mandate to help stem the spread of the virus, said onTwitterthat he and his wife would be fasting and praying for frontline health workers and residents affected by the pandemic. And the state's top health officialsuggestedmore aggressive measures might be required.
As GOP governors in nearby Texas and Florida havetaken steps to preventlocal communities and schools from implementing new mask mandates -- with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida even threatening to withhold pay from public educators who implement them -- Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, said "ultimately those are conversations that need to be had at the school-board level."
"I would encourage people to stay involved at the local level, having those conversations where they should be had, not at the federal level," he said. "Let people in the local communities make the decisions that are best for themselves and open up the schools."
Asked about Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who recently said he regretted signing into law a ban on local mask mandates in the spring, Scalise said, "let those local conversations be had."
Scalise, who has criticized recently updated federal mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, did not attack the Defense Department's announcement that it will request approval for the COVID-19 vaccine to become mandatory for all U.S. military service members by mid-September, saying that he would "leave it to the generals to determine what's best to run the military."
"I still don't want to see the federal government make those kinds of mandates," he added.
The Louisiana Republican, who was first eligible for his vaccine in December as a member of Congress, received his first dose in July. Asked about the delay, Scalise said he waited because of a positive antibody test, which suggested he had previously contracted the virus. The CDC hasfoundthat the COVID-19 vaccines provide more robust protections against the virus than antibodies from prior infections.
"Ultimately with the delta variant, I saw the spike in hospitals and primarily as over 98% of people in the hospitals with COVID were unvaccinated. And that's when I decided to get the (vaccine)," he said. "I'm very glad I did it, it's very safe and effective."
Separately, Scalise said he plans to oppose thebipartisan infrastructure bill, approved by the Senate earlier Tuesday, when it is taken up in the House, because of the Democrats' plans to pair it with a more expansive, $3.5 trillion policy package they plan to advance with only Democratic votes.
Seventeen Republican senators voted with all of the Democrats to advance the$1 trillion infrastructure measureTuesday.
"It's less about infrastructure and more about taxes and spending, and Speaker Pelosi made that very clear," he told ABC News Live. "There is a whole lot of spending that has nothing to do with infrastructure, and they're going to be tax increases that are going to hurt jobs it's going to hurt middle class families."
