Virginia's Lt. Gov.-Elect Likens Vaccine Status To Inquiring About One's DNA

Virginia Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears once again balked at disclosing her COVID-19 vaccination status when asked in an interview Sunday, this time warning it will lead to wanting to examine her DNA.

Sears, who will serve alongside Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin after becoming the first woman and first woman of color elected lieutenant governor of Virginia earlier this month, called such a question a “slippery slope.”

“The minute that I start telling you about my vaccine status, we’re going to be down the bottom of the mountain trying to figure out how we got there, because now you’ll want to know what’s in my DNA,” the Republican told CNN ’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

Sears, who served as a state delegate in Virginia, has previously refused to disclose her vaccination status when interviewed by CNN, insisting that it’s a private matter. She has referred to the news network as “liberal hack reporters” on Twitter , though she has also encouraged others to get the coronavirus vaccine.

“If we’re not careful, we’re going to start asking for other things, because we have already determined that this is everybody’s business,” she told CNN last month .

Youngkin has said he is vaccinated against COVID-19 and has also encouraged others to get the vaccine, though he has said he is opposed to vaccine mandates.

COVID-19 cases have been rising across  much of the U.S. over the past couple of weeks after a near two-month drop from the summer’s surge. Virginia is among the states that have seen a high rate of transmission. As of Friday, there have been 953,460 cases of COVID-19 in Virginia and 14,492 related deaths, according to the state’s Department of Health .