When Joe Biden pulled the political equivalent of the Irish Goodbye yesterday — which is to say, when he reneged on what he’s been promising for the last year, which also happens to be the core issue of his presidential platform during the 2020 campaign — and then hopped a flight without much explanation, one could imagine the jaws of mayors in major cities hit the floor in awe. Because if there is no “federal response” to COVID as Old Joe said, then those mayors are flying solo on vaccine mandates some implemented just days before. For what it’s worth, the list of cities requiring vaccine or testing mandates reads like a short list of places you should avoid going on vacation any time soon. There’s probably a story there, but I digress.
Back to Biden’s deuces moment on the White House lawn…It was quite surprising to say the least and made one wonder if the recent decision by SCOTUS to hear arguments on federal vaccine mandates in early January may have played a role in the president’s abandonment of loyal progressive mayors to the will of their state governors (except DC, which answers to Congress). In other words, Biden’s baffling unshackling of himself from everything he’s said for the last two years may be a bellwether for how SCOTUS could rule on the mandate issue. They could be struck down as Thor’s lightening bolts. We’ll have to wait and see).
There was a wrinkle when Monday’s COVID guidelines were changed from a 10-day isolate period to a 5 day one. The quiet proviso contained in this new guidance threw those who had not been vaccinated back into the anti-vaccination pile.
Earlier, I noted how the CDC arbitrarily halved its quarantine guidance from ten days to five. One thing that struck me was the fact that it has merged vaccinated persons who haven’t been boosted into its updated guidance for people exposed.
According to the guidance:
For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. After receiving their booster shot, individuals do not need quarantine. However, it is recommended that they wear a mask at all times for the first 10 days.
The message is clear — if you are vaccinated but un-boosted, you need to take the same level of precaution as those who have never been vaccinated.
When Florida governor Ron DeSantis predicted that President Biden’s vaccine mandate would eventually apply to people who were vaccinated but not boosted, he was slammed by fact checkers. Weeks later, Anthony Fauci conceded the change was only a matter of “when, not if.” Now, CDC is in effect already treating those who merely received two doses as the same as those who are unvaccinated.
Phil Klein points out that mandates and modifications to vaccine definitions aren’t happening at the same time. Rather, he suggests “[r]The idea of requiring people to have a vaccine and then having it boosted once every six months would be astounding and could lead to a state-wide surveillance system. [and] CDC is inching us closer to that point.”
Yikes.
For a second, let’s forget about that scary supposition. The real question here is: How much will those who have been following every single draconian rule this band of autoritarians has imposed consent to being once more deemed dirty and suspended risk analysis (which is becoming harder) in order to be permitted to eat at a local restaurant? Because their relative compliance might be the difference in just how much the government gets to track our movements as we are made — or not made — to line up again for our quarterly shots.
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