Political elites exempt from vax mandates

On the eve of Thanksgiving 2020, with the fractious election not yet over for many citizens and COVID-19 fracturing the holiday for nearly all, president-elect Joe Biden addressed the nation: “We’re all in this together.”

He neglected to add: “Sort of.” We’ve all been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, whether we’ve contracted the virus, cared for loved ones who have, buried friends and family who’ve succumbed, lost jobs or businesses due to shutdowns or have had to juggle work with homeschooling or coped with newfound isolation.

Hardship hasn’t hit all of us equally — there has always been a divide between those who can hunker down in the Hamptons and those who are making the best of it in Hull. Those who waited months for their salon to reopen, and those who popped over to their fave stylist in San Francisco, unmasked, for a blowout.

And so it is for President Joe Biden’s new vaccine mandates for federal employees — they don’t apply to members of Congress, those who work for Congress or the federal court system.

So much for “we.”

The president’s pair of executive orders issued Thursday required vaccination against COVID-19 for federal workers and contractors who work for the federal government. He also asked the Department of Labor to issue an emergency order requiring businesses with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested on a weekly basis, reported Newsweek.

The sticky bit: His order on federal workers applies to the executive branch. The House of Representatives and the Senate belong to the legislative branch, the courts to the judicial branch.

This comes as no surprise to those in Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said back in April that the House couldn’t require its members to get the jab.

In a video clip, she said, “So — so here is the thing. We are — we cannot require someone to be vaccinated. That’s just not what we can do. It is a matter of privacy to know who is or who isn’t.

But federal employees and those who work in businesses with more than 100 employees must get the vax or be tested. That’s what they can do.

Members of Congress couldn’t throw elbows fast enough to get their COVID vaccinations first (“leading by example”). They have their jobs because the American people put them there, and they are supposedly eager for the economic engine of the country to hit full throttle, which requires workers back in force.

Vaxxing plays a big role in that, and vaccine hesitancy has been a speedbump.

“The FDA’s full approval of a coronavirus vaccine shows Americans can have full confidence in the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine that has been painstakingly studied and reviewed. For those who have been reluctant to get vaccinated, this long-awaited approval reflects the extraordinary rigor and scrutiny that FDA has applied in reviewing millions of cases to ensure that this vaccine is safe.”

That was a statement from Pelosi last month.

On Friday, her office underscored her April statement about Congress to Newsweek.

“She’s saying she cannot force members to be vaccinated, which is true,” the statement said.

All the statements about safety and effectiveness and rigor fly right out the door when the person in the third highest position of power in the country won’t require her own members to get the vaccine.

And all those hesitant to receive the vaccine can feel vindicated in their reluctance.

There is little doubt, however, as to accuracy of the latest Gallup polls — 70% disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job.