'The View' Slams Tucker Carlson's 'Irresponsible' Vaccine Misinformation

The hosts of “The View” are taking a dim view of the way Tucker Carlson is spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

On Wednesday, the panel discussed comments Carlson made on his show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” when he speculated Tuesday that the vaccine “doesn’t work” but that the government refuses to say so out loud.

“View” co-host Joy Behar addressed his gripe about having to wear masks even after getting vaccinated.

“You’re wearing a mask on top of the vaccine because no vaccine is 100% proof and many people have not gotten the vaccine. We don’t have herd immunity,” Behar said. “It’s an extra way to protect yourself. What part of that don’t they get? What is the purpose of scaring people into not getting the vaccine?”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends even those who are fully vaccinated continue to wear face masks and practice social distancing until more research is done on the vaccines’ effectiveness at stopping the spread of coronavirus.

After co-host Meghan McCain said that the overall messaging around vaccines “has been really, really bad,” leading to excessive politicization and increased “Republican distrust,” fellow co-host Sunny Hostin really went after Carlson and those who think like him.

“The reason people are getting vaccinated and still need to be cautious is because of the growing number of white male Republicans that continue not to want to wear their mask or get vaccinated because they consider it some sort of freedom ride,” Hostin said.

“I think people like Tucker Carlson are being very irresponsible by sending out this messaging, by sending out the message that maybe the vaccines just don’t work,” she said. “That is irresponsible. It’s misinformation and it’s causing, I think in the long run, people to die. People need to be more concerned about the virus, more scared of this virus than the vaccine.”

The available vaccines have varying levels of efficacy, but are all shown to be effective in reducing symptomatic illness and death from COVID-19.

Co-host Whoopi Goldberg then pointed out that if people want to forgo masks, “then get the damn shot,” but explained why she will continue to wear one even after being vaccinated.

“I haven’t had the flu all year and I think one of the reasons is that the mask kept it out,” she said.

A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus

• Do your vaccine side effects predict how you’d react to COVID-19?

• “I’ve been sick from COVID-19 for almost a year.”

• Should children go to camp this summer?

• These are the most common ways the COVID-19 pandemic has affected mental health.

• Find all that and more on our coronavirus hub page.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.