WASHINGTON: Two weeks after celebrating America’s nearly “freedom” from the coronavirus, the President Joe Biden is facing the worrying reality of rising cases and deaths – and the limits of its ability to counter the constant hesitation of the vaccine responsible for the summer backslide.
Cases of COVID-19 have tripled in the past three weeks, and hospitalizations and deaths among unvaccinated people are increasing. While rates are still sharply down from their January highs, officials are concerned with the reversing trendline and what they consider unnecessary illness and death. And cases are expected to rise in the coming weeks.
While the national emergency may have faded, officials say the outbreak is now a more localized crisis in communities where not enough people have rolled up their sleeves.
Echoing comments made earlier in the day by Dr Rochelle Valensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Biden said on Friday, “Look, the only pandemic we have is without vaccination.”
The rising numbers are being driven in large part by infections among the more than 90 million eligible Americans who have not yet received shots. Just four states with low vaccination rates made up 40% of new cases last week, and nearly half of those came from Florida alone.
However, it has less appetite white House For the return of broad mandates for masks or other measures, as 161 million Americans are already fully vaccinated.
Reflecting that mindset, Valensky said on Friday that in low-vaccination areas with rising cases, “local policymakers can consider whether masking would be something that would be helpful to their community at that time.”
Some communities are acting. Los Angeles County on Thursday reinstated its requirement that masks be worn in most indoor settings regardless of vaccination status, and health officials in Las Vegas recommended Friday that workers and patrons in tourism hotspots face masks while inside. Wear a covering.
With three highly effective vaccines authorized for use in the US, the Biden administration believes the most effective way to attack the virus is not trying to slow the spread with mass masking and thus – America showed it wasn’t great last year – but to continue the importance of vaccination.
This is not an easy fix. Many Americans remain resistant or obsolete to receive the shots, despite months of often constructive efforts by federal and state officials and the private sector to spread information about vaccination safety and accessibility.
surgeon general Vivek Murthy He added that while the government can play an important role, including schools, employers, technology companies and individuals, “it should be an ‘all of the above’ strategy with everyone involved.”
In recent days, the administration has turned its attention to young Americans. It enlisted pop star Olivia Rodrigo on Wednesday for a one-day visit to the White House with Biden and top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, which was heavily documented for social media. Young people have the lowest risk of adverse outcomes from the virus and have been proven to be the least likely to be vaccinated.
But another huge group has proved to be an even more formidable challenge: Republicans. The White House has long acknowledged that, given the rampant propaganda about vaccines and the country’s partisan divide, it will have little success in explaining it. GOP to get on board. Instead, administration officials have been criticized in recent days by government officials and social media companies for not spreading or condemning vaccine misinformation that has been spreading among the GOP.
“They’re killing people,” Biden said on social media companies Friday, speaking a day after the statue, the surgeon general, warned that misinformation about vaccines spread on platforms like Facebook could harm public health for the nation. created risk.
Comment attempts from major platforms were not immediately successful.
The new government’s expression of despair comes amid disbelief that millions of Americans continue to refuse vaccinations, unnecessarily expanding the pandemic and raising the cost of living, as health officials insist That almost all serious cases and deaths are now preventable.
According to the CDC, more than 99% of Covid-19 deaths and 97% of hospitalizations are among people who have not been vaccinated.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Gents said Friday that the pandemic is now “one that threatens primarily uninsured people.”
He said the Biden administration expects cases to increase in the coming weeks due to the outbreak in communities with low vaccination rates, but Ziants said there is a sign that the increased cases are prompting more people in those communities to seek vaccination. are reporting that “states are seeing the highest case rates with their vaccination rates growing faster than the national average.
Cases of COVID-19 have tripled in the past three weeks, and hospitalizations and deaths among unvaccinated people are increasing. While rates are still sharply down from their January highs, officials are concerned with the reversing trendline and what they consider unnecessary illness and death. And cases are expected to rise in the coming weeks.
While the national emergency may have faded, officials say the outbreak is now a more localized crisis in communities where not enough people have rolled up their sleeves.
Echoing comments made earlier in the day by Dr Rochelle Valensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Biden said on Friday, “Look, the only pandemic we have is without vaccination.”
The rising numbers are being driven in large part by infections among the more than 90 million eligible Americans who have not yet received shots. Just four states with low vaccination rates made up 40% of new cases last week, and nearly half of those came from Florida alone.
However, it has less appetite white House For the return of broad mandates for masks or other measures, as 161 million Americans are already fully vaccinated.
Reflecting that mindset, Valensky said on Friday that in low-vaccination areas with rising cases, “local policymakers can consider whether masking would be something that would be helpful to their community at that time.”
Some communities are acting. Los Angeles County on Thursday reinstated its requirement that masks be worn in most indoor settings regardless of vaccination status, and health officials in Las Vegas recommended Friday that workers and patrons in tourism hotspots face masks while inside. Wear a covering.
With three highly effective vaccines authorized for use in the US, the Biden administration believes the most effective way to attack the virus is not trying to slow the spread with mass masking and thus – America showed it wasn’t great last year – but to continue the importance of vaccination.
This is not an easy fix. Many Americans remain resistant or obsolete to receive the shots, despite months of often constructive efforts by federal and state officials and the private sector to spread information about vaccination safety and accessibility.
surgeon general Vivek Murthy He added that while the government can play an important role, including schools, employers, technology companies and individuals, “it should be an ‘all of the above’ strategy with everyone involved.”
In recent days, the administration has turned its attention to young Americans. It enlisted pop star Olivia Rodrigo on Wednesday for a one-day visit to the White House with Biden and top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, which was heavily documented for social media. Young people have the lowest risk of adverse outcomes from the virus and have been proven to be the least likely to be vaccinated.
But another huge group has proved to be an even more formidable challenge: Republicans. The White House has long acknowledged that, given the rampant propaganda about vaccines and the country’s partisan divide, it will have little success in explaining it. GOP to get on board. Instead, administration officials have been criticized in recent days by government officials and social media companies for not spreading or condemning vaccine misinformation that has been spreading among the GOP.
“They’re killing people,” Biden said on social media companies Friday, speaking a day after the statue, the surgeon general, warned that misinformation about vaccines spread on platforms like Facebook could harm public health for the nation. created risk.
Comment attempts from major platforms were not immediately successful.
The new government’s expression of despair comes amid disbelief that millions of Americans continue to refuse vaccinations, unnecessarily expanding the pandemic and raising the cost of living, as health officials insist That almost all serious cases and deaths are now preventable.
According to the CDC, more than 99% of Covid-19 deaths and 97% of hospitalizations are among people who have not been vaccinated.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Gents said Friday that the pandemic is now “one that threatens primarily uninsured people.”
He said the Biden administration expects cases to increase in the coming weeks due to the outbreak in communities with low vaccination rates, but Ziants said there is a sign that the increased cases are prompting more people in those communities to seek vaccination. are reporting that “states are seeing the highest case rates with their vaccination rates growing faster than the national average.
.