McConnell using reelection campaign money to run vaccine ads in Kentucky, countering 'bad advice'

Senate Minority Mitch McConnell is running TV ads to encourage more home state Kentucky residents to get a COVID-19 vaccine and to counter misinformation and what he calls "bad advice."

"There is bad advice out there, you know. Apparently, you see that all over the place: People practicing medicine without a license, giving bad advice. And that bad advice should be ignored," McConnell told Reuters in an interview published Wednesday. 

"Not enough people are vaccinated," the Kentucky Republican continued. "So we’re trying to get them to reconsider and get back on the path to get us to some level of herd immunity.”

The 79-year-old McConnell, who survived polio as a child, plans to use money from his re-election campaign to run 60-second radio ads on more than 100 Kentucky radio stations in the coming days.

McConnell said he was encouraged by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who last week said it's "time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks" for rising cases.