Marjorie Taylor Greene suspended from Twitter for a week after claiming vaccines are ‘failing’

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has been suspended from Twitter for a week after claiming that the coronavirus vaccines are “failing”.

According to CNN, a spokesperson for the social media platform said the tweet “was labelled in line with our Covid-19 misleading information policy. The account will be in read-only mode for a week due to repeated violations of the Twitter Rules”.

Twitter’s policy on misinformation about Covid-19 states that a “seven-day account lock” will occur after a user’s fourth strike.

At 10.15pm on Monday night, Ms Greene tweeted: “The FDA should not approve the covid vaccines. There are too many reports of infection & spread of #Covid19 among vaccinated people. These vaccines are failing & do not reduce the spread of the virus & neither do masks. Vaccine mandates & passports violate individual freedoms.”

The tweet was labelled as “misleading” and a link was added to allow users to “learn what health officials say about preventative measures and Covid-19”. Twitter also made users unable to share, like or reply to the tweet.

Last month, Ms Greene’s account was suspended for 12 hours after sending out two tweets claiming that the coronavirus isn’t dangerous for anyone under the age of 65 who isn’t obese and said vaccines shouldn’t be required because of “vax-related deaths” and “many concerning side effects”.

If Ms Greene commits a fifth violation of the misinformation policy, she could be banned from Twitter.

The Independent has reached out to Ms Greene for comment.

Just over half of all Americans have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Covid-19 cases have been on the rise in the US since mid-June amid the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus and slowing vaccination rates.

Louisiana now tops the nation in new Covid cases as hospitalisations surge across the south in areas with low vaccination rates. Just over 37 per cent of Louisiana residents have been fully vaccinated and data from the state shows that around 90 per cent of those in hospital with Covid-19 have not been vaccinated.

Ms Greene came under fire last week after footage emerged of her speaking to a crowd in Alabama that cheered for low vaccination rates. The far-right congresswoman was also seen telling the crowd that they could use their guns to scare off any volunteers knocking on their doors to urge them to get vaccinated.

“You lucky people here in Alabama might get a knock on your door because I hear Alabama might be one of the most unvaccinated states in the nation,” Ms Greene said to applause.

“Well, Joe Biden wants to come talk to you guys. He’s going to be sending one of his police-state friends to your front door, to knock on the door, take down your name, your address, your family members’ names, your phone numbers, your cellphone numbers, probably ask for your social security number, and whether you’ve taken the vaccine or not.”

The government already has a lot of this information, and door-knockers won’t need to ask for addresses if they’ve already located the home.

Conspiracy theories about the Biden administration knocking on doors have been spreading since the president said in early July: “Now we need to go to community-by-community, neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood, and oftentimes, door-to-door – literally knocking on doors – to get help to the remaining people.”

He was referring to supplying in-person information about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.

The door-to-door vaccination initiative aids states to enlist local officials and volunteers to provide information about Covid-19 vaccines as well as shots in areas where people haven’t yet been vaccinated.

“Yeah, well,” Ms Greene continued, “what they don’t know is in the South, we all love our second amendment rights, and we’re not real big on strangers showing up at our front door, are we? They might not like the welcome they get.”

Alabama has one of the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rates in the US. Only around 35 per cent of the population has been fully inoculated.

When South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster tried last month to block door-to-door efforts to drive up the vaccination rate in his state, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “The failure to provide accurate public health information, including the efficacy of vaccines and the accessibility of them to people across the country, including South Carolina, is literally killing people, so maybe they should consider that.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.