The editors of the Washington Post say that President Biden needs to “reset” his policy with respect to COVID-19:
It is time for President Biden to reset the battle against covid-19. The nation’s high expectations for recovery were dashed this summer by the onslaught of the delta variant and the irresponsibility of a large share of unvaccinated people who fell ill. The country has the tools to fight back; it is now suffering through a self-inflicted epidemic. In his planned address to the nation Thursday, Mr. Biden can launch a fresh campaign to use those tools, and the country must help him carry it out, aggressively and wisely.
Let me pause there to question the editors’ interpretation of events. I agree with them that we should be doing more to encourage people to get vaccinated. I think they’re overestimating the degree to which it’s a “self-inflicted epidemic”. Or maybe it’s just poor diction on their part. IMO a “Zero COVID” strategy has always been beyond our reach. How else do you explain the surge in cases in highly-vaccinated Israel? Adjusted for population we’re seeing about the same number of deaths per day as Portugal where the vaccination rate is 86%. If you decide to do your own calculations, Portugal has less than 1/30th of our population. When you combine ease of transmission, asymptomatic spread, and so-called “breakthrough” contractions of the disease I believe that the preponderance of the evidence suggests that “Zero COVID” is not a practical goal.
But I agree with this:
Most importantly, Mr. Biden ought to give the nation an unvarnished look at where the pandemic response is going. Many people believed, in June and early July, that the end was near. The cruel toll of the delta variant has left them disoriented and worried. In an article in Foreign Affairs titled “The Forever Virus,†experts cautioned the virus “is not going away.†It will not be completely eradicated, new variants are possible, herd immunity is not imminent and the virus may circulate for years to come. Still, we must find a pathway to resilience and survival. Mr. Biden should lay out realistic expectations, setting goals for the government and for the nation as a whole.
I think they’re underestimating the difficulty not just rhetorically but politically in delivering such a message, particularly when so much policy in so many locales has been dedicated to other goals. It would not just require President Biden to admit he was wrong or, perhaps more charitably, that circumstances have changed but that governors and mayors have been pursuing futile strategies as well.
Is that sort of nuance and charm within the president’s range of ability? I guess we’ll find out.
I’m starting to see a pattern here that puts me in mind of Afghanistan.
First aiming to do the impossible, then letting the perfect get in the way of the good.
I guess he could always channel Bolsanero,
“What do you want ME to DO?â€
I think you mentioned President Harding, I’ve read, that at least on record, he never once mentioned the flu epidemic at that time.
The job description of POTUS has expanded a great deal in the last century, and that is probably not good.
Yes, Biden greatly underestimated the level of vaccine resistance. He should admit that he was wrong about this and we will continue to see hard to control outbreaks as long as vaccination levels dont pick up. I dont really see much he can do about that but being honest would be a start.
Steve
There were a series of mistakes
a) discontinuing surveillance of breakthrough infections/hospitalizations/deaths in May,
b) confusion on the necessity of booster shots (why is the FDA/CDC so lacking in data they need Israeli data to make the decision?)
c) declaring victory too early
d) most importantly, taking their eye off the ball. Its pretty clear that the administrations focus has been on the “infrastructure” bills since April.
It is probably the last one that is concerning. The “infrastructure” bill isn’t going to stop soaking attention the day it gets Biden’s signature. The implementation of all that spending is going take up much of the most competent minds in the White House/Federal government for a while.
Let’s hope todays measures are enough and/or this really is the last major wave as Scott Gottlieb predicted.
Its an interesting decision Biden made today.
Among democracies, all except the US that have implemented “vaccine passports” or “vaccine mandates” have conditioned vaccines as pre-requisite to non-essential things like sporting events, restaurants.
The U.S is taking a different approach to condition employment on vaccines.
While the right to a job is not a constitutional enumerated right; taking away the means to support one’s family is bound to generate a legal firestorm.
And yes; I can understand such a rule in a workplace like hospitals, nursing homes, military which have special reasons for such a rule (and had such rules for other diseases before the pandemic). But all workplaces, even for people who are working from home?
I think he’s probably about to learn the limits of presidential power.
It’s not working in hospitals. Hospitals in rural areas are not implementing requirements for vaccines, even ones that have required it for flu, for fear of losing too many staff.
CO- Not sure what you mean by off the ball. What else should they have been doing?
Steve
We’re all going to die, was the original, hysterical, response.
Then, shut everything down because that takes Trumps economy down, and now we blame all things covid on Trump.
Joe will save the day!! Oops, Delta. Border. Afghanistan…….
Those god damned unvaccinated. THEY are the problem!! That’s the narrative. Why, those people are amoral because they might infect the vaccinated and………..oh, wait, infect the vaccinated?……..they might infect each other, or, well, you know, the vaccines aren’t actually all that good but……….. Um, never mind. Those damned unvaccinated. Burn them! Witches!!
Too funny!
“We’re all going to die, was the original, hysterical, response.”- Nope. Didn’t happen and you cant find any quotes to prove it. Part of the right wing schtick, but not really amusing.
The rest of the world did the same things we did. Obviously they were trying to take down Trump’s economy since that is all they care about.
“..oh, wait, infect the vaccinated?……..they might infect each other, or, well, you know, the vaccines aren’t actually all that good but”
In our network, just like everywhere else, the unvaccinated make up over 90% of those in the hospital. The vaccine is working pretty well with efficacy in the 90% range. With the unvaccinated as a large reservoir if you have constant exposure that 90% will fail and you will get infected but you are still much less likely to have severe illness.
Your ability to ignore the actual numbers, whine about the victim role and shill for Trump is pretty amazing.
Dave-” I think they’re overestimating the degree to which it’s a “self-inflicted epidemicâ€.”
No they are not. If everyone were vaccinated the ICUs would be almost empty.
Steve
“Everyone”. Perfection is an unrealistic goal. The population is large and there are people who will never be vaccinated–some with very good reasons.
God bless. If 90% of people, if 85% of people. Hope that is better. There are not very many good reasons.
Steve
When you add the number of those vaccinated to those who have some immunity by virtue of having contracted the disease, it’s about 85%. Again, you’re striving for 100%. That’s going to be hard to accomplish. If it were a disease like smallpox, it would be possible to quarantine people involuntarily but, as you may have noticed, that hasn’t been done anywhere in the U. S.
Again, I think that people are foolhardy not be be vaccinated if they are able but I also know people whose physicians have told them the vaccine would kill them. Maybe they’re getting bad advice.
No, I am not. I am striving for vaccine rates that we have achieved for many other vaccines. Measles, Mumps, smallpox, polio, etc. It is also past time to stop trying to make the unvaccinated feel good because “we will never get everyone vaccinated anyway”. The reason ICUs are full, critically ill pts in some states are not receiving adequate care and lots of hospitals are short on staff (which makes the idea of promoting monoclonal antibodies a fantasy) is because a bunch of people are not getting vaccinated, by choice. Then they show up and expect us to save their lives.
Steve