GRIND ILLEGAL BIKES INTO THE DIRT CALL TO VAX ALL FLIERS
Rep. Torres urging Biden to mandate shots on airlines
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y) thinks it’s “plane” to see what the next mandate should be.
As President Biden tightens the nation’s coronavirus vaccine rules, Torres is returning to his calls to make immunization a condition to fly the American skies.
The lawmaker from the Bronx sent a letter to the White House on Thursday urging action on air travel, according to his office, hoping to seize on the president’s more aggressive recent approach to attacking the pandemic.
“It is beyond clear that vaccines are the most powerful tools we have to save millions of Americans from premature death and senseless suffering,” Torres said in the letter. “It is in the best interest of public health to revise the new COVID-19 vaccine guidelines to include mandates for air travelers.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, Torres (photo) began to lobby the Transportation Security Administration for an air-travel vaccine rule. He also introduced a bill with hopes of codifying the edict in law.
As of Thursday, about a quarter of eligible Americans had yet to get a single COVID shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The U.S. suffered through a summer COVID surge, with the national death rate more than tripling between the end of May and the start of September, according to the CDC. Federal health authorities have blamed the persistence of the pandemic on vaccine holdouts.
And Biden, frustrated by the incomplete inoculation drive, last week announced a strict new mandate for federal workers, and a new requirement that workers at large private firms receive shots or take weekly testing.
“We’ve been patient,” Biden told reluctant Americans in a White House address. “But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us.”
The president has still stopped short of requiring shots for air travel or train travel. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease doctor, recently said he supports the measure for flights.
“I would support that if you want to get on a plane and travel with other people that you should be vaccinated,” Fauci said in an interview published by theSkimm, a digital media company.
The federal government appears to have the legal authority to institute the requirement.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a mandate for plane travel has been under consideration at the White House.
Torres plans to hold a news conference with City Councilman Mark Levine (D-Manhattan) at City Hall on Friday afternoon to call for the measure, according to their offices.
When Torres launched his push for the rule, he compared COVID to other dangers on flights.
“The TSA never allows people to enter planes or airports with a weapon, and the delta variant is a weapon,” Torres said in August. “It is a threat to everyone in an airport and everyone on a plane.”