President Joe Biden recently made the announcement that by April 19, a majority of Americans will be eligible to get their first COVID-19 vaccination. While he said he will ensure that there would be a vaccine site within 5 miles of 90% of Americans, he presented the message with a warning that the “war against COVID-19 is far from won” and that cases are on the rise again as new variants are spreading.
Biden stressed that all governors, mayors, and local leaders should reinstate and enforce the mask mandates, arguing that this was “not politics” and that he needs the American people and leaders to do their part as well. Whenever a Democrat says something is “not politics,” it usually means that’s all it is. “Mask up. It’s a patriotic duty. It’s the only way we ever get back to normal,” he said.
The Biden Administration has spent weeks taking credit for former president Trump’s vaccine distribution plan, along with ‘Operation Warp Speed.’ Even Monclef Slaoui, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s boss and the former head of Operation Warp Speed, said that 90% of Biden’s coronavirus vaccine rollout plan was the same as the one the Trump Administration had laid out. He dismissed the claims that Biden and his team were starting a vaccine plan “from scratch,” and added that the only thing they’ve done was accelerate the development of the vaccine.
Besides taking credit for Trump’s plan, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also bashed Biden for pleading state leaders to re-enact face mask mandates. In the weeks since Texas eased up on COVID-19 restrictions and stripped mask mandates entirely, the state has not seen any type of “massive surge” that Dr. Fauci and President Biden warned them about. In fact, their fatalities dropped to a 3-month low and the 7-day covid positivity rate is being reported at 4.96%. Cases have fallen by about 17% and deaths have fallen by 34% over the last 14 days.
“Texans and Americans alike have learned and mastered over the past year the safe practices to protect themselves and their loved ones from COVID, and do not need the government to tell them how to do so. Removing state mandates, however, does not end personal responsibility or the importance of caring for family members, friends, and your community,” said a statement issued from Abbott’s office.
The statement goes on to add that all Texans should follow medical advice and safe practices but continues to trend in the right direction in terms of hospitalization cases, positivity rates, and vaccine distribution.
Other states, such as Mississippi, are also seeing low COVID-19 rates since lifting COVID-19 restrictions and getting rid of mask mandates entirely. They have seen a 45% decrease in cases over the last 14 days, a 53% decrease in deaths, and a 17% decrease in hospitalization rates.
While Biden keeps chalking up that this is simply “patriotic,” it’s anything but. It’s purely political. So much for the party that “follows the science.”
