Republicans Will Stop at Nothing to Prolong the Pandemic to Score Political Points and Harm President Biden’s Efforts to Lead
Tomorrow, the Senate HELP Committee will hold a public hearing titled Addressing New Variants: A Federal Perspective on the Covid-19 Response, featuring testimony from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, FDA Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, and HHS Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell.
As we prepare to hear the witnesses’ testimonies and answers to questions posed by committee members, it is important to remember that the contrast is clear: Republicans continue to spread disinformation and oppose common sense vaccine requirements putting American lives at risk and causing people to get seriously ill and prolonging the pandemic, while President Biden and his administration work hard to put an end to this pandemic and protect the economy.
President Biden has kept his promise to use every tool at his disposal to keep people safe and healthy. While Republicans do everything in their power to score political points at the expense of the health and safety of their own constituents, President Biden is working hard to lead us out of this pandemic.
HOW REPUBLICANS ARE PROLONGING THE PANDEMIC
- Paying People Not To Get Vaccinated: Republican governors and legislators in Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas and Tennessee have changed their unemployment insurance rules to allow workers who are fired or quit over vaccine mandates to receive benefits. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has offered cash bonuses to unvaccinated police officers who quit or are fired from police forces in other states. CDC data shows that unvaccinated adults are nearly six times more likely to test positive for Covid-19 and 14 times more likely to die from the virus compared to vaccinated individuals.
- Refusing To Promote Booster Shots: Republican governors including Gov. DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma have been scornful or silent about booster shots that have been proven to provide significant protection against the Omicron variant. Asked whether he had received a booster shot, DeSantis demurred saying, “So, I’ve done whatever I did. The — the normal shot, and that at the end of the day is people’s individual decisions about what they want to do.” Oklahoma Governor Stitt announced that he has no plans to get boosted, telling a reporter, “I’m perfectly healthy.” Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee used their official Twitter account to spread false information, asking: “If the booster shots work, why don’t they work?” The tweet was later deleted. And even former president Trump was booed after telling a crowd that he got an additional dose of the vaccines he considers great achievements of his administration.
- Filing Lawsuits Against Vaccine Mandates: More than two dozen Republican attorneys general are waging war on vaccine and testing mandates on at least three fronts.
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- At least 26 states have filed suit against OSHA’s rule protecting 84 million American workers with a vaccination or testing requirement. The AMA and other respected medical and public health experts have warned that ending the OSHA rule would “severely and irreparably harm the public interest.”
- More than 20 Republican AGs are seeking to overturn CMS’s mandate that health care workers be vaccinated against Covid-19. In the first year of the pandemic, more than 3,500 health care workers in the US died and tens of thousands more were infected and sickened.
- Nearly two dozen Republican attorneys general are working to block the administration’s vaccination requirements for federal contractors.
- Blocking Vaccine And Testing Requirements: The National Academy for State Health Policy found that nine GOP-controlled states have passed laws requiring exemptions for the federal vaccine mandate, or banning private companies from requiring vaccination altogether. Several states have made it easier for workers to claim exemptions from vaccine mandates, allowing them to decline on philosophical grounds or requiring businesses to accept all requests for religious or medical exemptions without proof.
- Launching Congressional Attacks On Vaccines: Republican members of Congress have filed at least 20 bills to block or roll back vaccine mandates. Every Republican member of the Senate has joined an effort led by Sen. Mike Braun to overturn the federal vaccine or test mandate using the Congressional Review Act, and nearly every Republican member of the House and Senate signed on to an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn OSHA’s vaccination or testing rule. Republicans like Rep. Nancy Mace and Sen. Ron Johnson have taken to the airwaves on Fox News and the Senate floor to promote the false idea that “natural” immunity acquired by getting sick is better protection than immunity provided by vaccines.
- Passing Bans On School Mask Mandates: At least eight Republican governors, including Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, have banned mask mandates in schools often putting them at odds with their own constituents and local school boards who want to protect students and teachers. A study in Arizona found that mask mandates work and schools that required all students and staff on campus to wear face masks were 3.5 times less likely to have a coronavirus outbreak during the Delta variant surge than schools that didn’t implement masking.
- Rolling Back Local Public Health Powers: Republicans in at least 26 states have passed laws that permanently weaken government authority to protect public health. In Arkansas, legislators banned mask mandates of all kinds. In Idaho, elected county commissioners can now veto countywide public health orders. And in Kansas and Tennessee, school boards, rather than health officials, have the power to close schools.
HOW PRESIDENT BIDEN’S ADMINISTRATION IS LEADING US OUT OF THE PANDEMIC
- Shots in Arms: Nearly 75 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and over 60 percent are fully vaccinated. Over 73 million booster doses have been administered, providing the best protection against the omicron variant. The Biden Administration has made booster shots free and convenient at over 80,000 locations nationwide. Vaccines are our best tool to prevent severe sickness and death from all variants of Covid-19 and they have already prevented 1.1 million deaths and 10.3 million additional Covid hospitalizations. The administration continues to expand access to vaccines to more and more Americans, authorizing vaccination for 5 to 11 year old children in November, and opening eligibility for booster shots to 12 to 15 year olds in January.
- New Access To Therapeutic Drugs: On January 4, President Biden announced that the federal government is doubling the US’ order for Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral pill, Paxlovid, which has been shown to reduce hospitalizations and severe illness significantly, another vital tool for reducing suffering and bringing the pandemic to an end. Twenty million doses of Paxlovid will be delivered in coming months, with the first shipments sent to hospitals on Christmas Eve.
- Increased Testing: Since taking office, the Biden administration has taken numerous steps to increase Americans’ access to vital Covid-19 testing, both at home and at testing sites around the country. There are more than 20,000 free testing sites around the country, including new federal sites deployed in response to the omicron variant surge. Four times as many rapid tests are available for Americans to use at home than were available last summer, and the administration will purchase a half-billion rapid tests this winter with the initial delivery starting this month. Starting January 15th, Americans with private health insurance will be able to access up to eight, free at-home over-the-counter COVID-19 tests each month. The White House also announced that insurance companies are setting up systems to provide free tests to consumers up front without requiring reimbursement. The announcement is in addition to the Biden administration announced purchase of 500 million free rapid tests to send to American families.
- Schools Open: Thanks to the efforts of the Biden administration to provide safe and effective vaccines for students, and funding for masks and ventilation in schools, nearly 100 percent of American students were back in the classroom full time in December 2021, up from under three-quarters at the end of last school year. Although the omicron variant presents new challenges for teachers and students, the Biden administration remains committed to doing everything possible to keep students and educators safe.
- Workers Back To Work: The Biden administration has presided over the largest one year drop in the unemployment rate in U.S. history, and the creation of nearly six million jobs, the most of any first year president in history. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the success of the vaccination program, workers are able to go back to work safely and confidently. If upheld by the courts, the Biden administration’s rule to require companies with 100 or more employees to ensure that their workers will further protect 84 million workers and the communities they live in.