“There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we cannot let our guard down now. We must remain vigilant, act fast and aggressively and look out for one another,” said President Biden.
Biden warned the nation this week that we must remain vigilant and protect one another from Covid-19 spreading any further while we wait to be vaccinated. The plea’s come after it’s been announced that many Southern Republican governors are working to reopen their states now that numbers are slowly lowering due to the vaccinations being rolled out. However, leading health experts warn that we must maintain proper health and safety procedures until a herd immunity is met or else the Covid-19 variants could take over.
Biden also announced that with Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine approval America will likely see most of its citizens vaccinated by the end of May. Unfortunately, governors in Texas and Mississippi took this news as a green light to completely reopen their states without any mask mandates, despite the fact that not nearly enough Americans have been vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
In fact, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, warned that with all the new Covid-19 variants spreading, reopening states could cause the nation to “completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott, on the other hand, believes that “it’s time to open Texas 100%” without any mask mandate. Abbott joined former president Donald Trump’s on their constant claims that the scientific evidence didn’t really mean anything in regards to new infections; 500,000 Americans have now died due to Covid-19 related circumstances.
“The reopening is a gigantic mistake. Texas in general is still not doing well … we’ve seen this movie and we already know it doesn’t turn out well.”
Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi, also Republican, announced that he would be ending all county mask mandates and reopening businesses at 100% capacity. Reeves tweeted this week: “Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed. It is time!”
Andy Slavitt is a senior adviser to the While House Covid-19 response team who recently spoke on the president’s behalf to the media about these state reopenings, and the frustration coming from the Biden administration as they take on their first “science vs. politics” battle in relation to this global health crisis.
“We certainly understand the pressure governors are under and we appreciate the working relationship we have with Gov. Abbott. But at the same time, we think it’s a mistake to lift these mandates too early. Masks are saving a lot of lives. I’m really hoping that the businesses and the community and people in Texas, the mayors, the counties, will rethink this. I hope the governor rethinks this. Hopefully states will stick with this until such a time as we get through all the vaccinations and see the other side of this.” Dr. Leana Wen is a former health commissioner who also spoke to the press about how much of a mistake it is for these states to reopen.
“Reopening could undo all the incredible work that healthcare workers have done thus far. Mask mandates would allow schools to reopen and businesses to get back on their feet — and were a path toward freedom, not an infringement on it.”
“Make no mistake, Covid-19 has not disappeared, but it is clear from the recoveries, vaccinations, reduced hospitalizations and safe practices that Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed. With this executive order, we are ensuring that all businesses and families in Texas have the freedom to determine their own destiny,” Abbott said this week.
Only 6.5% of Texans have been fully vaccinated so far; much lower than the percentage of vaccinated individuals the CDC and leading health experts have said need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. In Mississippi only 7.4% of residents are fully vaccinated. Local officials in Texas are not thrilled about this announcement. For example, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins accused the governor of “trying to distract from his failures during the winter storm last week in the state that blacked out much of the power grid.”
Jenkins took to his Twitter to tell Texans that they “should focus on what doctors, facts, and science say is safe; not what the Governor says is legal!” Judge Ricardo Samaniego joined Jenkins in his condemnation of the Governor, claiming that his county, El Paso, has been completely “pummeled” by Covid-19. In fact, Samaniego also took to his Twitter to claim that his “authorities had 280 bodies in the county’s holding facility, Abbott’s directive was equivalent to lifting the requirement to wear seat belts. Our community would have appreciated his condolences to the families who have lost loved ones, and public health would have appreciated if he would have focused on the dangers of a new variation of the virus which is quickly emerging.”
Biden and his administration recently worked to quickly pass a $1.9 trillion Covid rescue package which would work to extend unemployment, help assist small businesses, and get schools open. The biggest part of the bill is focused on getting Americans fully vaccinated first and foremost though.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
