Amid a disturbing rise in Covid-19 cases in Michigan, the government of Gretchen Whitmer on Friday called on the residents of her state to voluntarily take a two-week break to eat inside and meet , was a sobering message and a test of reality for Americans who have returned to much of their old pastime as the rate of vaccinations increases.
Amid a disturbing upsurge in Covid-19 cases in Michigan, the government of Gretchen Whitmer on Friday called on residents of her state to voluntarily take a two-week break to eat and gather inside, was a sobering message and a test of reality for Americans who have returned to many of their old pastimes as the rate of vaccinations increases.
“There is light at the end of this tunnel, but the recent increase in cases is a reminder that we are still in the tunnel,” the Democratic governor said, urging people to continue to take precautions and get the vaccine get – which is now available to anyone 16 and older in her condition. “This is the nature of this virus. The second time we disappoint, it comes roaring again.”
Nationally, the number of cases and hospitalizations increased last week compared to the previous seven-day period, even though the deaths. Michigan hospitals are again considering canceling elective surgeries while reviewing their training plans – and the state’s predicament points to the difficult balance facing the Biden government as it seeks to project optimism while maintaining complacency over the virus move.
The accelerated rate of vaccinations in the United States was rightly a source of celebration, with a CNN analysis showing that the country’s rate is almost five times faster than the global average. According to data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday, the U.S. set a record high of 4.6 million doses of vaccines administered within 24 hours. And Americans approved of it because more than one in four adults is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19. But officials cite growing concern about the number of young people ending up in the emergency room with Covid-19.
The emphasis on progress has inevitably created a false sense of security in some corners at a time when the virus remains unpredictable and increasingly contagious due to new variants.
The reality is that the country is still a long way from herd immunity – with the hesitation of vaccines now a major obstacle to achieving that goal. A whopping 40% of Marines turned down the Covid-19 vaccine, according to data from the vaccine the Marine Corps provided to CNN on Friday.
A new Kaiser Family Foundation report last week found that a higher percentage of rural residents received at least one dose of the vaccine (39%) than those in urban and suburban areas (31% each). But as access to vaccines increases, the rural population may soon fall behind. This is because a much larger percentage of Americans in rural areas say they will definitely not get the vaccine (21%), compared to 10% in urban areas and 13% in suburban areas, which is another looming challenge for the government van Biden is.
Covid fatigue and an infectious variant
While many Americans are tired of pandemic restrictions and are convinced that the worst is behind them, some governors have accelerated the pace of reopening in their states, and they clearly feel the heat of their impending re-election campaigns.
Gavin Newsom, governor of California, a Democrat likely to be recalled this year, announced last week that his state would fully reopen by June 15, drawing criticism from opponents who questioned how he could predict the rate of the arbitrary party will look. date. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, threw out his state mask mandate last month. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, recently banned so-called Covid-19 passports, saying they would “create two classes of citizens based on vaccinations.” And Whitmer, who faced a severe setback when she introduced some of the strictest Covid rules in the country last year, takes a softer approach in particular by voluntarily making her recommendations for a two-week break. All four leaders could be re-elected in 2022.
“To be very clear, these are not orders, mandates or requirements,” Whitmer said of her call to stop indoor dining, high school classes and youth sports. ” After a year, we all know what works, and it has to be a team effort. ‘
The spread of the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant, which is now the dominant strain in the United States, is a central factor in Michigan’s boom. And so the state is becoming a case study for the warnings issued by some top doctors and epidemiologists over the past few weeks that the rate of vaccinations does not match the rate at which new variants can spread among the population.
One of the most important facts about the increase in Michigan is that nearly 40% of the state’s residents have already received one dose of vaccine, according to the state’s detection system.
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, noted that Michigan’s boom is taking place despite advances in vaccination. ‘Vaccination of vaccines has been a very important tool in trying to reduce these cases. But as you have seen from Michigan and Minnesota – although they have very high vaccinations compared to the rest of the country – you can still see how serious the problem is, “Osterholm said on CNN’s” New Day “on Thursday. . “We just will not be able to get enough people vaccinated fast enough so that the rest of the country can not experience much of what we see in the Middle East and Northeast.”
Although not everyone shares the perspective, the uncertainty has put the White House in a bad position, which is reflected in comments by dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, during the White House Covid-19 Response Team briefing.
“On the one hand, we have so much reason for optimism and hope, and more Americans are being vaccinated and protected against Covid-19,” Walensky said. “On the other hand, the cases and visits to emergencies are ongoing, and as I said throughout the week, we are seeing this increase in younger adults, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated.”
She noted that officials in Michigan and Minnesota in particular have been watching the increasing reports of cases of youth sports: “I want to be clear, as matters in the community increase, we expect the cases identified in schools to increase as well,” she said. Walensky said. .
As the administration is keen to keep children in school, she stressed that the cases are not necessarily related to the transfer of the school, which she says can be avoided if schools follow all the safety protocols set out by the CDC. However, the risks to students are one of the reasons why the CDC has allocated $ 10 billion from the US rescue plan to support tests in schools across the country.
“The fact that we can quickly identify new cases among students will help us slow down the spread of Covid-19 while at the same time working to expand equitable access to vaccines,” she said.
To try to control the spread in Michigan, Whitmer urged the Biden government to send more vaccine doses to her state, with the call to create a ‘vaccine program’ to help hotspots.
So far, Biden’s administration has refused a decision defended by White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients on Friday, even though he stressed that the government is sending more resources – including offers of more staff, greater testing capacity and more therapy. and treatments to help patients – to states struggling with an increase in cases. A senior government official told CNN’s Pamela Brown on Saturday that an additional 160 vaccines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on their way to Michigan to assist the state in administering the doses.
“There are tens of millions of people across the country in every state and country who have not yet been vaccinated,” Zients said Friday. ‘The fair and equitable way of distributing the vaccine is based on the adult population by state, tribe and territory. This is how it was done, and we will continue to do it. ”
“The virus is unpredictable. We do not know where the next increase in cases can take place, “he added, noting that the US is not yet halfway through its vaccination program. “So this is not the time to change course on vaccine allocation.”
But as the situation in Michigan worsens – and other states with similar thrusts – it could become a difficult position to maintain the Biden government. Whitmer may be the first Democratic governor to publicly put the administration under pressure for a vaccination program, but she is unlikely to be the last.