Not done with COVID
As another wave looms, government at every level remains silent
Scientists and health officials are warning that a new COVID variant could create another wave of sickness and death across the country, including here in Virginia. Data from Europe and Asia have been accurate predictors of impending cases here, and the new variant, called BA.2, is raging there.
Yet despite that knowledge and two years of experience battling the virus, the response so far from officials — Democratic and Republican, federal and state — is whispers instead of shouts. That portends a difficult spring, especially for the most vulnerable Americans.
Government at every level rolled back pandemic restrictions, reflecting both the sharp decline in cases at the trough of the omicron variant wave and the public’s exhaustion with vaccine and mask mandates. By and large, folks are done with COVID even if COVID isn’t done with us.
Federal programs intended to prevent the spread of disease have exhausted their funding and are winding down. The White House announced on March 15 that, absent funding from Congress, Washington will be forced to cease a host of efforts to control the virus.
“[T]he United States will not have enough additional boosters or variant specific vaccines, if needed, for all Americans. The federal government is unable to purchase additional life-saving monoclonal antibody treatments and will run out of supply to send to states as soon as late May. The federal government cannot purchase sufficient quantities of treatments for immunocompromised individuals. And, the federal government will be unable to sustain the testing capacity we built over
the last 14 months …”
Congress did not include President Joe Biden’s request, totaling $22.5 billion, in its recent spending package. That failure will be felt most by our vulnerable populations: the poor and uninsured, the immunocompromised and those who cannot get the vaccine for health reasons, and others whom policymakers too often ignore.
As for Richmond, Gov. Glenn Youngkin made it clear from day one that he has no
interest in dealing with the virus. Yes, he has been vocal in encouraging Virginians to get vaccinated, but he has battled vaccine mandates in court, ended mask mandates (including at schools), and adopted a hands-off approach to pandemic management.
Perhaps that’s what voters wanted when they voted for him in November. After all, he made no secret on the campaign trail of how he would approach these issues when elected. And he followed through immediately upon taking office, even as Virginia endured high case numbers that challenged an already brittle health care system.
But what matters most is what happens next — in Washington, in Richmond and in our communities.
Flexibility has not always been the guiding principle for our COVID fight, though it should have been. Impose commonsense, science-based restrictions when case numbers spike and discontinue them when numbers drop. Ebb and flow, repeat as needed.
The worry now is that the polarization of our politics, the rigidness of our thinking, will be what drives decisions, rather than the facts on the ground. And the word from health officials is that another wave is about to crash against our shores.
The good news, of course, is that we’re better prepared than ever. Vaccine rates in the commonwealth are high, though uneven from one community to the next. Health systems are informed by two years of experience battling the disease. People know to exercise caution when needed.
But we also know that millions of Americans, including an untold number of Virginians, are being abandoned as the nation moves on. These vulnerable populations deserve protection as well, especially when risk of infection is greatest.
Officials are telling them that they’re on their own, as apparently we all are.
Time, and this new variant, will surely tell whether that approach is enough or whether we will condemn more people to sickness and death because acting in the best interests of our most vulnerable was too inconvenient.