Suddenly, Sean Hannity and other Fox Hosts are urging their viewers to get COVID-19 vaccines

• Fox News host Sean Hannity encouraged viewers to get COVID-19 vaccines on Monday.

• "I can't say it enough. Enough people have died. We don't need any more death," he said.

• Previously, Hannity repeatedly called the pandemic a hoax.

• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Fox News hosts, including Sean Hannity, threw their support behind COVID-19 vaccines on Monday, a sharp departure from the network's often skeptical coverage.

Hannity on Monday urged viewers to get vaccinated. He encouraged them to take the pandemic "seriously" and said he believed in the "science of vaccines."

"Just like we've been saying, please take COVID seriously," Hannity said on Monday. "I can't say it enough. Enough people have died. We don't need any more death."

He urged viewers to "research like crazy" and come to a decision on the vaccine with their medical provider.

"Take it seriously. You also have a right to medical privacy, and doctor-patient confidentiality is also important," he said. "And it absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccination."

But before declaring his support for vaccines, Hannity was critical of universities for mandating vaccinations. The stance came in response to a federal judge's decision to uphold an Indiana University policy requiring students and staff to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus.

Hannity has previously called the virus a hoax. He also repeatedly denied calling the virus a hoax, The Washington Post reported.

The Hill reported that in two separate segments of "Fox & Friends," hosts Steve Doocy and Bill Hemmer spoke positively of vaccines.

"If you have the chance, get the shot. It will save your life," Doocy said.

Tucker Carlson was a notable exception, continuing to question the vaccines on his Monday-night show, as Insider's Tom Porter reported. He appeared to disparage other journalists who offer "medical advice on television."

The switch in tone came after outlets, including The New York Times and Insider, ran stories detailing statements made by Carlson and Laura Ingraham that were against expert public-health advice on vaccines.

It also came after a CNN report that, while hosts such as Carlson have attacked vaccine passports, the media corporation has rolled out its own version of a vaccine passport.

In a Daily Beast op-ed early this month, Preston Padden, a former network executive who worked under Rupert Murdoch, called Fox "poison for America," blamed it for fueling vaccine hesitancy, and said it caused "unnecessary" deaths.

Read the original article on Business Insider