Former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx finally made a jarring admission during a CNN interview recently.
She said that the Trump administration didn’t apply any of the lessons learned from the first wave of coronavirus cases last year and that, because of this, the number of subsequent deaths could have been “decreased substantially” after last spring. Although this isn’t terribly surprising, it is no less disgusting to learn the extent of arrogance and ignorance the White House showed when all of our lives were hanging in the balance.
Currently, we’re in the midst of another wave of coronavirus cases. For the past three weeks, transmission rates have been on the rise and younger, less vaccinated people have been getting infected and becoming very ill. In fact, recent reports are showing a noticeable increase of children becoming more readily infected by variants, which will further complicate and endanger teachers, other education staff, and families. So, with all that’s come out from this interview with Birx, it’s disheartening to see cases on the rise again.
Despite the Biden administration’s vaccination program, neither the nation nor the world is anywhere close to “herd immunity,” that is, actually close to safety. In the U.S., there’s a false sense of security that many are getting vaccinated, while at the same time restrictions are loosening all over the country, even as there are multiple more transmissible COVID-19 variants on the rise. Individual states have the final say on many aspects of pandemic policy and many have been opening up schools and businesses without serious protections. The situation isn’t radically different than it was under Trump’s leadership.
Despite what some would have us believe, we’re not out of the woods yet. Transmission and death rates will continue to see-saw up and down. We need a universal science-backed protocol for vaccinations and re-opening schools and businesses that isn’t in the hands of politicians.
