Biden toils to put pandemic behind him
WASHINGTON, April 20, (AP): President Joe Biden’s administration has been working for months to prepare people to rethink their personal risk calculations as the nation gets used to the idea of living with an endemic COVID-19.
But that measured approach disappeared abruptly when a federal judge on Monday threw out the federal requirement to mask up when using mass transit. The ruling added to the urgency of the messaging challenge as the administration tries to move past the virus in the lead-up to midterm elections.
After the government last month eased indoor mask-wearing guidelines for the vast majority of Americans even in schools - masking on planes was one of the last redoubts of the national COVID-19 restrictions. Now, as the policy falls, the administration turns to accelerating its efforts to provide the best advice for millions making their own personal safety decisions in the still-dangerous pandemic.
It’s both a public health imperative and an important shift in emphasis for Biden’s political future.
“There is an opportunity now, instead of saying this is a disappointing ruling, they could say this is a good time to have a conversation about how we move forward in this pandemic about risk calculation,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja an infectious disease physician and a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
“With COVID-19, I think we’re at a point with immunity from prior infections, vaccines, home tests and treatments that we can start to manage this the way we manage other infectious diseases,” he said.
Biden himself went all-in on flexibility Tuesday when asked if Americans should mask up on planes.
“That’s up to them,” Biden declared during a visit to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. But his own White House nonetheless continues to require face coverings for those traveling with him on Air Force One, citing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Regulation
The shift toward less formal regulation was actually previewed in a 100page plan released by the White House coronavirus response team in February. Back then, administration officials had hoped that children under 5 would be eligible for vaccination by now - a move that would have eased the concern of millions of parents and provided the umbrella of protection to nearly everyone in the U.S. who wanted it.
Monday’s court order lifting the mask mandate came at a crossroads in the nation’s pandemic response, just shy of a year to the day from when all American adults were eligible for vaccination against COVID-19. The ruling sent government agencies and the White House scrambling to comply, but that didn’t stop momentary confusion among travelers as airlines and airports dropped their mask requirements - in some cases mid-flight.
The administration stressed that Americans should still comply with CDC recommendations to wear face coverings, even in the absence of the mandate. Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, said as much just an hour before his “up to them” comment.
“The CDC continues to advise and recommend masks on airplanes. We’re abiding by the CDC recommendations, the president is, and we would advise all Americans to do that,” she said.
On Tuesday, Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said officials believe that the federal mask order was “a valid exercise of the authority Congress has given CDC to protect the public health.” He said it was “an important authority the Department will continue to work to preserve.”
But he said the department would only appeal the ruling if the CDC determined that the mask mandate was still necessary for public health. As of Tuesday evening, the agency hadn’t made a determination, officials said.
Psaki on Tuesday indicated that while the administration was disappointed with the ruling, it didn’t rank with Congress’ inability to reach a compromise on additional COVID funding to purchase booster shots and antiviral treatments.