Politico has a story up about the supposed “next phase” of President Biden’s Covid strategy now that the Omicron surge is winding down. But for all the talk of shifting to a strategy of “containing the coronavirus and conditioning Americans to live with it” ultimately, there is no fundamental change in the approach.
The report notes that though they want to emphasize a “new normal,” White House officials are “wary” of “declaring victory too early.” So they are going to repeat the same strategies that have gotten us to this point: asking for “billions more dollars from Congress,” expanding access to vaccines, and testing. Meanwhile, “though it faces pressure to back off some of its more notable — and onerous — public health policies, the administration is also unlikely to drop its indoor masking recommendations, which are seen as among the key tools for preventing new outbreaks.”
Why are masks considered a “key tool” when the Omicron surge ripped through some of the most masked areas of the country?
Biden ultimately faces a dilemma. The most obvious position for a leader to take at this point is to say that we have moved to a phase in which people should make their own individual risk assessments regarding Covid. This would also be the most politically beneficial to Biden and the Democrats.
But Biden has trapped himself. He vowed to “shut down the virus” and to take more aggressive action in fighting Covid. Abandoning guidance on masking now would feel like an acknowledgment that the anti-maskers they have been morally shaming for nearly two years may have been onto something. Furthermore, he is surrounded by people who fully bought into restrictions.
The rest of us should not accept the spin though. Any nation that is still recommending indoor masking has not “moved on.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/bidens-post-omicron-covid-strategy-is-to-keep-doing-exactly-the-same-thing-2/