There are coincidental events, and then there are causal events.

The fact that Republican leaders and conservative media are denigrating coronavirus vaccination efforts have a direct causal relationship to the outbreaks of coronavirus in the nation, which not-coincidentally are largely in Deep Red areas.

Now, GOP leaders are feeling the pressure to find a way to gracefully do a 180 and start to encourage vaccinations–without making themselves and/or their Party like hypocrites, the New York Times reports.

Some current Republican leaders–like Senators Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney and John Cornyn–were early advocates for vaccines.  But others who hog conservative media attention–like Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ted Cruz, joined by Fox News host Tucker Carlson–tell people to refuse vaccinations, spreading lies and conspiracies that are endangering their constituents’ lives.

“We don’t control conservative media figures so far as I know — at least I don’t,” Romney said in an interview on Wednesday. “That being said, I think it’s an enormous error for anyone to suggest that we shouldn’t be taking vaccines. Look, the politicization of vaccination is an outrage and frankly moronic.”

Bob Ehrlich, the former Republican governor of Maryland and long-shot political candidate who has carved a career in right-wing talk radio, recently cut an ad for the Maryland Department of Health to encourage people to get the coronavirus vaccine.

The Party, itself, however, has refused to take a public position advocating for vaccines.  It refuses to condemn the conspiracies and lies spread by its members and advocates, but still doesn’t encourage the public to get vaccines.