Viewpoints: Following Germany’s Example On Covid; Examining Why Some Police Aren’t Following Mandates
Opinion writers delve into these covid, vaccine and mandate issues.
The Atlantic:
Four Measures That Are Helping Germany Beat COVID
And yet I have, since returning to Germany about a month ago, been struck by how much more rational, efficient, and pragmatic the country’s handling of the late stages of the coronavirus pandemic has been. While the American response to COVID-19 has barely gone beyond the measures that were first adopted in the spring of 2020, Germany has phased in a series of additional policies over the past 18 months. None of them adds serious disruptions to daily life, and yet they collectively put the country in a much better position to contain the virus. (Yascha Mounk, 10/26)
CNN:
Why Are Cops Fighting Vaccine Mandates?
I was waiting in line at the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) in Maryland this summer when I noticed two state troopers posted inside. Despite a mask mandate in Prince George's County, neither wore a face covering. Out of curiosity, I called the Maryland State Police headquarters and asked a sergeant if their troopers are required to follow the Covid-19 protocols of the counties in which they work. The sergeant replied the troopers were state employees, and there was not a statewide mask mandate in place. (Sonia Pruitt, 10/26)
Houston Chronicle:
The World Needs A Cheap And Easy COVID-19 Vaccine. Houston Doctors Have Something That Could Help
At a time when the United States and Soviet Union were amassing stockpiles of nuclear weapons that could decimate each other thousands of times over, Albert Sabin, an American scientist, traveled to Russia in 1956 to share his groundbreaking research on an oral polio vaccine with his Soviet colleagues. Sabin’s collaboration with virologist Mikhail Chumakov was a critical milestone in the quest to eradicate polio. Unlike Jonas Salk’s vaccine, which saw wide use in the United States beginning in 1955, Sabin’s version used live but weakened virus, was taken orally rather than through a shot, and provided lifetime immunity after one dose. Thanks to the partnership with Chumakov, the Sabin vaccine was tested on millions of people throughout Russia and Eastern Europe in 1958 and 1959, before being fully licensed in the United States in 1962. (10/27)
The Washington Post:
Stop The False Narrative About Young Children And Covid. They Need Vaccines
Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration marked a milestone in the covid-19 pandemic on Tuesday, as they recommended authorization of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Having millions more Americans eligible for vaccination could influence the trajectory of the pandemic and reduce community infection rates, though I believe the more significant outcome will be that young kids will finally be protected from illness, disability and death. (Leana S. Wen, 10/26)
The New York Times:
Covid Will Likely Be With Us Forever. We Need To Plan
On May 14, I went for a jog, amazed at my newfound freedom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just signed off on the vaccinated shedding their masks outdoors. In Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, on a cloudless spring day, I pondered what seemed like a miraculous paradigm shift: Apparently, I no longer had to fear that my fellow joggers would kill me, or I them. (Katherine Eban, 10/27)
The Tennessean:
Tennessee Lawmakers Are Doing Harm With Special Session On COVID Rules
Tennessee is trying to recover from the deadly delta COVID surge which brought the state’s death toll to more than 16,000 citizens. But state lawmakers are back in Nashville Wednesday to curb COVID protocols and tie the hands of local and state officials and businesses from protecting people from the virus. Some legislators have taken particular delight in politicizing the coronavirus even as their own colleagues have suffered from it, as neighbors have died and health care systems are taxed. (10/26)
Miami Herald:
Florida's Gone COVID Crazy
DeSantis' latest move, announced last week, is to call a special legislative session to undermine federal requirements announced by President Joe Biden that some workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Among the laws he wants lawmakers to pass is making businesses liable for medical harm that results from mandatory vaccinations, even though millions of vaccines have safely been administered in the United States. DeSantis has for months tried to walk the tight rope between pleasing anti-vaxxers and not undermining the vaccines his own administration has distributed. If there was any doubt of which side he favors, last week's announcement put the nail in the coffin. (10/26)
