End Mandates. Declare Victory
Time for Democrats to re-think COVID.
COVID isn't like smallpox. It's like tobacco.
Democrats have an idea stuck in their heads. They think COVID is a public health issue. It was. Now it isn't. It is a personal health issue.
Mandates. Let it go.
There is a charming Disney song to help Democrats get through the necessary mental transition. Possibly Boomer-aged readers have missed the movie Frozen. Here are some lyrics and a four minute non-political video.
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway
This will be hard for Democrats, but their political survival requires they catch up with the public mood. The COVID-conscientious are exhausted. The COVID-resisters have dug in.
Two years ago no one knew how serious COVID was. Was this a new Ebola? A new HIV? Or a false alarm? Democrats got a powerful signal from then-president Trump. He minimized. He opposed testing that might reveal higher case numbers. Democratic thought leaders are inclined to like and trust people in their peer group of well-educated bureaucrats and managers--people like Dr. Anthony Fauci. Fauci looks credible: A well-intended, public-spirited, hugely-credentialed man. He is an "ask what you can do for your country" hero of the type Boomers respect. He was saying watch out, be careful. That seemed prudent and compassionate to Democrats. Trump was saying no big deal. The battle lines were drawn.
Heads up to Democrats: A great many people have decided Dr. Fauci is dangerous and evil. They think he is dead wrong and a tyrant. They think he is motivated by money, getting fabulously rich by poisoning Americans. Other people think all that is maybe-true and are just suspicious. They hear things. Is this ridiculous paranoia? Not to them.
Another heads up: GOP voters are exposed to a relentless message of vaccine and mask opposition from Fox and talk radio and other conservative media. TV and radio hosts put a tone of dismissive skepticism into any suggestion that COVID protocols are of value. The Fox News's website gives a flavor. Here are two stories from this morning:
And
The New Jersey woman got a Johnson and Johnson vaccination back in August, then got a headache and blood pressure spike two days later, which she attributes to the vaccination. Possibly so. She took hypertension medicine and got better "to the relief of her family and friends" and then went dress shopping with her daughter. The man in the gym accidentally pulled his mask up over his eyes, could not see where he was going, and tripped. That happens, of course, when people cannot see where they are walking. It must be the mask mandate. Readers who avoid Fox need to understand the message-environment many of their neighbors live inside.
Democrats should let COVID mandates go. It is past time to leave Republicans alone. They have defined vaccinations and masks as an issue of freedom, not health. Democrats need to catch up with the science. In this omicron stage, vaccinations don't do an effective job of stopping COVID spread. Anyone can get it, vaccinated or not; anyone can spread it, vaccinated or not. Vaccinations protect oneself from getting seriously ill. COVID vaccination isn't about public health anymore. It is about personal health.
So it is about mostly about freedom. Republicans are right about that, now, at least. It is the freedom to do something self-destructive that might fill up hospitals and shorten your life, but, still, freedom.
Democrats need to re-think COVID. Now vaccination-refusal is like smoking at home. Republicans will die unnecessarily. So will smokers.
Possibly gentle encouragement from people credible in medically underserved communities--Blacks, Hispanics, the poor--will increase vaccinations there. Democrats have a moral obligation to try. Vaccine mandates and encouragement from President Biden and Dr. Fauci cause Republicans to rebel. It backfires. It kills Republicans. Stop.
I went shopping at Costco yesterday. I wore an N95 mask. There were abundant maskless shoppers. Mask-ing to protect others is useless. The train left the station. Protection comes from vaccination and boost. Omicron is endemic. Ready or not, the war on COVID is over. Let's declare victory.
End COVID mandates. Let smokers smoke. Some will die. Let it go.