Republicans Still Refuse to Act on COVID-19 Funding
Republicans continue in their attempts to prolong the pandemic by refusing to pass much-needed funding for life-saving vaccines, tests, and treatments.
The results of this posturing are already disastrous. Many providers have ended COVID-19 care for uninsured patients, putting people at risk for long-term complications or death. Thanks to Republican inaction, more people will get sick and have worse outcomes after COVID-19 without access to vaccines,, boosters and medical care.
And Republicans are hurting their own constituents by their partisan political posturing. A new study from this week joined the many others that have concluded that Republicans are having worse health outcomes because of COVID-19. This is sad and unsurprising – Republicans don’t care who they hurt in their quest to score political points.
This was never more evident than last week when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis bullied the Special Olympics into dropping their vaccine requirement. DeSantis put his own political future over the health and safety of children in yet another reminder of his lack of leadership and downright hostility towards anything that might make the pandemic end sooner rather than prolonging it to bolster his own agenda.
DeSantis’ new low shocked people across the country, but those who have been paying attention to his dangerous actions on COVID-19 could’ve predicted it. He’s appointed a surgeon general who lies about vaccine effectiveness and continues to spread his own misinformation about the pandemic.
Despite the political games they play, Republicans must join with their Democratic colleagues, set aside their posturing, and pass additional COVID-19 funding in order to make sure we are safe going into the fall and winter. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s long past time.