Vaccine hesitancy based on 'fear and lack of science': Dr. Siegel

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Dr. Siegel says vaccine distribution 'going in the right direction'

FOX News medical contributor praises new administration's coronavirus strategy on 'Special Report'

The serious risks associated with COVID-19 far exceed the side effects of the "very effective, very safe" vaccine, Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel said Tuesday.

Siegel addressed vaccine hesitancy in an appearance on "Special Report," taking aim at those who spread misinformation on a basis of "fear and lack of science."

"This is a very effective, very safe vaccine, and Dr. Fauci's right, it's the way out of this pandemic," Siegel said. "The war is going to be between us, who believe in this vaccine that is the light at the end of the tunnel, and those who are trying to set up these roadblocks based on fear and lack of science. The vaccine hesitancy, the anti-vaxxers, is an antiscientific movement."

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Siegel said it's a matter of time before the excitement that accompanied the vaccine rollout dies down, and medical experts are forced to confront "this message of vaccine hesitancy and fear, when in fact it is COVID we need to be afraid of, not this vaccine."

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Biden announced on Tuesday that, starting next week, his administration would increase the total supply of vaccine doses distributed weekly by roughly 15% -- to a minimum of 10 million doses per week from 8.6 million. 

The president also said he expects to soon be able to confirm the purchase of 200 million additional doses from Pfizer and Moderna – 100 million apiece. That increases the federal government’s total vaccine order to 600 million.

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"I think that can get to the 1.5 million per day that President Biden is suggesting," Siegel told host Bret Baier, calling Biden's distribution strategy a step "in the right direction."

Fox News' Brittany De Lea contributed to this report.