'The View' co-hosts clash with Caitlyn Jenner over forced vaccinations: 'Your freedom to stay at home exists'

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In media news today, Chris Cuomo's sexual harassment accuser says the CNN host hasn't changed since groping her, 'The View' addresses their COVID testing fiasco, and sources say a female CNN producer exited 'Cuomo Prime Time' after feeling 'threatened' by the namesake anchor

The four liberal co-hosts of "The View" on Tuesday clashed with conservative guest host Caitlyn Jenner on the heated issue of forced vaccinations.

Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines and Whoopi Goldberg all expressed support for mandatory vaccinations against the coronavirus, especially among workers in the health care and education sectors, while Jenner defended "individual freedoms" and the "personal choice" to take the vaccine. 

Behar pointed to other vaccines people are already required to take before attending school, such as the polio vaccine, and lamented that, despite those decades-old requirements, the coronavirus vaccine had some sort of "bugaboo" about it that was scaring people away.

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"These are the things that science is now providing for us. Imagine if we were in the 19th century when you didn’t even have anesthesia and if you got a cut, you would die," Behar said. "We have the means to cure this problem and stop the incessant testing that vaccinated people have to do … It’s like I’m tired of not being able to live my life because people are being irrational everywhere – a lot of places in this country."

Before responding, Jenner said she appreciated being able to come on the show to express her opposing viewpoint and said that although she and Behar had a difference of opinion, it didn't make either of them a bad person. 

"I got vaccinated. I’m fine. But that was my personal choice. I am about individual freedom," Jenner said after explaining she waited until seeing how well her mother did with taking the vaccine before deciding to take it herself. "Why? Why do we have to get mandated ones like you say? Like polio?"

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"I’m about individual freedoms. There’s not a one size fits all. What about pregnant women? … And I just feel like that is a decision between a doctor and their patient. By far the most important thing is that, not some bureaucrat sitting in Washington, D.C., saying you have to get it. I got it and I’m happy I did," she added.

Hostin, visibly frustrated, attempted to refute Jenner's viewpoint by claiming that a true "patriot" would get the vaccine in order to protect their fellow Americans. 

"I hear all these people, ‘Well it’s my constitutional right [to not be vaccinated].’ No, it’s not. Because when it comes to public health, it has to be collaborative," Hostin said. 

"And I think the choice that’s being made in New York is a good one. If you don’t want to be vaccinated, then you cannot work at a public hospital. You can just stay at home … You still have your personal freedom and your freedom to stay at home exists," she added, referencing the decision by the state of New York to fire unvaccinated health care workers across the state who didn't take at least the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by Sep. 27. 

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Jenner argued that the health care firings would lead to a critical staffing shortage that could potentially endanger the lives of New Yorkers needing medical treatment. 

Haines argued back, claiming that the lack of vaccinations was already affecting hospital staffing nationwide and the ability for people to be treated for conditions other than the coronavirus. 

Jenner reiterated her support for personal choice in taking the vaccine and said no system was perfectly fair. 

Goldberg turned the argument to race, snapping back by saying that she wouldn't have the right to vote, as a Black woman, if everyone always waited for people to make the right choice.

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"There are times when we just have to suck it up and say, ‘Sorry y'all!' This is what has to get done," Goldberg said. "I'm tired of waiting on folks. I know it's not nice to say, but you know what? You're keeping me back! You're holding us back! So quit it!"