On Wednesday night, Joe Biden himself took note of Fox News’ apparent change of heart when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. “One of those other networks is not a big fan of mine,” he said during a CNN town hall after pediatrician Nicole Baldwin asked him what the White House is doing to combat vaccine misinformation. “[It’s a network] you talk about a lot—but if you noticed, as they say in that southern part of my state, they’ve had an altar call, some of those guys. All of a sudden they’re out there saying, ‘Let’s get vaccinated, let’s get vaccinated.’ The very people who before this were saying—I shouldn’t make fun. That’s good. It’s good,” he said. “We just have to keep telling the truth.”
For the bulk of the pandemic, the overall tone of Fox News has been highly suspicious of any scientifically proven effort to curtail it—hosts like Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson have often trafficked in outright anti-mask, anti-vax conspiracy theories. But for whatever reason, this week has seen a shift in tone in some corners of the network. On Wednesday night, Fox News re-aired a pro-vaccine public service announcement that first ran in February, and that features host Steve Doocy saying “we’re in this together” and Harris Faulkner urging unvaccinated Americans “[to] get the vaccine” if they can. The ad also points out a link where viewers can register at local vaccination sites. As CNN’s Brian Stelter pointed out, Fox shows “have plugged vaccines.gov at least seven times this week, after going six weeks without mentioning the site at all.”
Earlier this week, a clip of Sean Hannity speaking out in favor of vaccines went viral. “Take COVID seriously,” Hannity said on Monday. “It absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccination.” The line echoed statements Hannity made back in May. His comments this week were bookended by two segments opposing campus vaccine requirements, but they nevertheless drew attention for their divergence from most of the rest of the network. Doocy, who revealed on air that he’d been vaccinated, made a similar appeal this week: “Here’s the thing. And one of the CDC officials said yesterday, look, the pandemic right now is really just with people who have not been vaccinated. Ninety-nine percent of the people who died have not been vaccinated,” he said. “What they are trying to do is make sure that all of the people who have not been vaccinated get vaccinated.”
These types of appeals have been counterweighted by people like Carlson, who on Monday falsely claimed that the government might be obscuring COVID-vaccine death tolls. But the occurrence of the apparent shift has raised the question: Why now? Stories earlier this week seemed to point to White House intervention, which Fox staunchly denied, although the network did say some of its employees are in regular touch with the White House. Press secretary Jen Psaki said the same, telling reporters in a press briefing that “We’ve been in touch with every network and many, many media outlets about coverage of COVID-19 to make sure people have accurate information, to voice concerns when we have them, and I think you all know we’re never shy when we have an issue with a story.”
Others have pointed to the plunge in the stock market—seemingly a result of dire news about the spread of the delta variant—as a potential motivator for Fox executives and stars to change their tune. Whatever the reason, Fox isn’t about to spill the beans; as of press time, the network had not responded to a request for comment.
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