With new cases of coronavirus spiking in Texas and Florida, you would think the conservative governors might backtrack a little, as have conservative governors of other states. But, no, Abbott and DeSantis double down, refusing to give an inch in their ongoing war against COVID restrictions.
At one point, both were being hailed by the conservative right for holding their ground because the two states were doing relatively well, but as summer came and people got out and started mingling about in restaurants, bars and other public venues with no restrictions in place, new cases began to spike. Slowly at first, but then along came the Delta variant, and soon new cases were being reported right and left. Now they find themselves pretty much alone in bucking the tide, as fellow conservative governors in other hard-hit states have buckled down on the pandemic, encouraging persons to take the vaccines and allowing schools and public institutions to issue mask mandates and other precautionary measures. Even worse, their popularity has begun to wane. Abbott is even being challenged in the primaries by Allen West, a former Congressman from Florida.
I really don't get how this pandemic has become so politicized. We feel it here in Europe as well, but not quite to the same vociferous degree as in the US. All EU leaders are encouraging vaccination and precautionary measures in an effort to keep the Delta variant relatively under control. New cases are spiking, but not to the same level as in the US, which is right back up to where it was last summer. The only saving grace is that fewer persons are dying from the virus.
Still, we see the last minute pleas for vaccines in hospitals only to be told it is too late. Alabama has been particularly hard hit, leading Governor Kay Ivey to actively encourage vaccines in an effort to stem the tide. She has an election coming up and doesn't want to be seen as having done nothing to relieve the spread of new Delta variant.
However, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott are banking on their conservative faithful to choose "medical freedom" over masks or vaccines. This is what they are calling it now, with New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu going so far as to sign a Medical Freedom Act that would deny forced vaccinations. Many schools and universities want to require vaccinations in order to attend classes this fall. DeSantis and Abbott have similarly outlawed such mandates.
To say that this kind of resistance is self-defeating is an understatement. More than 600,000 Americans have died of COVID since March, 2020. A number that should send shockwaves throughout the country. Instead, conservative politicians and pundits continue to claim the numbers are inflated and that the coronavirus isn't all that bad, citing those who got it and lived through it as examples.
You are playing a crap shoot. Yes, your chances are relatively low you will get COVID and even lower that you will be hospitalized, but once in the hospital mortality rates climb. There are only 6.6 hospital beds per 1000 persons in America, less than one percent. When case loads spike, hospitals simply can't handle the overflow, so they have to start prioritizing who has a chance to recover and leave the others to die. Death panels, if you will.
This has been an entirely avoidable crisis from day one. All we had to do was wear masks, keep public contact to a minimum, with local governments doing contact tracing to try to isolate the virus. Some states encouraged this but most states did not. It didn't help that we had a president who thought the virus would go away on its own accord like the seasonal flu.
After the initial surge and what some regarded as an overreaction to the coronavirus, conservative governors have been determined to keep their states open for business, often finding themselves at odds with business, as we saw when Gov. DeSantis demanded that cruise lines not require passengers to have vaccines before boarding. Norwegian Cruise has since sued the governor, insisting it will follow through on its mandate. It's a sad day when a cruise line is more concerned with the safety of its passengers than a governor is of the safety of his citizens.
DeSantis has gotten the most attention as he has been the loudest. He has presidential aspirations in 2024 and thinks that by taking the Trump line he will be seen as the successor to his base. That is if Trump is too infirmed to run himself. The only problem is that this conservative base is dwindling. DeSantis may find he can't even hold onto his governor's seat if he can't bring the caseload under control, especially with the school year starting this month.
People want to feel safe. They don't want to have to worry about catching the virus all the time. 80 percent of Americans worry about the Delta variant. This number has risen tremendously since June, when only 56 percent of Americans were worried about the virus. The Delta variant is the game changer. It is far more contagious and potentially deadly than its predecessor. What more mutations can we expect to see in the months to come?
We have more than enough vaccines to achieve herd immunity. The US finally reached an important threshold this month, administering at least one shot to 70 percent of the adult population, but we have to make a greater effort to vaccinate the youth as well. Teens have been slow to take the vaccine, in large part because their parents haven't insisted upon it. So, some school districts are considering the vaccine be required for high school students.
Most schools already require basic vaccinations like the MMR, DTaP and Hepatitis B, so I don't see anything that would legally stop states from adding COVID to the list. It's not just the students who are at risk, but teachers and staff as well. More so in fact, as adults are far more likely to develop acute symptoms that could lead to hospitalization.
We've had months now to deal with this crisis. We made great headway at the start of the year with the massive roll out of the vaccine, but that momentum began to ebb as summer approached, and now appears to have come to a standstill, largely because of recalcitrant governors like Abbott and DeSantis, who continue to ignore the crisis. This led President Biden to lose his patience and demand that they either do more to help or get out of the way, as no one wants to see the virus spike uncontrollably once again.
Comments
Post a Comment