We’re enduring our current crush of COVID-19 cases in large part thanks to Republican governors like Texas’ Greg Abbott and Florida’s Ron DeSantis, who has instituted statewide bans on vaccine and mask mandates as the state’s health-care system is being crushed under a new surge of cases, according to Andy Slavitt, the former head of coronavirus response in Joe Biden’s White House.
Slavitt said of DeSantis, “He’s saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to throw you in the water. I’m going to tell you, Hey, feel free to swim. You have the freedom to swim, but I’m going to bind your hands or put a gag in your mouth. I’m going to cover your eyes. I’m going to tie your ankles, but go ahead and swim.’”
He had similar words for Greg Abbott.
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“Abbott and Costello in Florida and Texas... You have these two governors who, say, ‘Look, I’ve got 30 percent of the country by just saying everything that government does and suggests is tyrannical. So I’m just saying that because by definition, if the government’s doing it, it’s tyranny, right?’... They’re going to waive the freedom banner until there’s nothing left for that freedom to hold,” he said.
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But, Slavitt told Molly Jong-Fast on a bonus episode of The New Abnormal podcast, there are three things that will definitively end the coronavirus pandemic. The first and foremost is vaccination.
“The things that are most important to do are still the most important things to do: vaccinate this country as quickly as possible, particularly the pockets where there’s a lot of unvaccinated people, vaccinate the globe.”
The others, he said, are the development of antiviral drugs for current COVID-19 patients and treatments for people suffering the symptoms of long COVID.
Vaccinating the globe is the United States’ best defense against murderous variants like Delta, but it will take time. As of right now, Slavitt said, the world is in the grips of a surge of coronavirus cases that has yet to abate.
“We’re seeing collapsing health-care systems in places like Bangladesh, India, Indonesia. And then here in the U.S., we are seeing a rise in this wave that hasn’t yet stopped. And I think we all are kind of getting the feeling that this isn’t going to be the last wave. So welcome to the new abnormal,” he said.
All is not doom and gloom for the former COVID Response Coordinator, though. Slavitt said he was glad to see the Supreme Court’s ruling that Indiana University could mandate that students be vaccinated. It surprised him to see that the conservative Amy Coney Barrett was the justice to issue the ruling, declining to take the case up for the high court’s review.
“It would be nice to think that, that there are a number of things where the justices are just gonna look at the law and also look at common sense and say, I’m going to not make a political decision. I’m encouraged, of course, that they didn't take the case,” he said.
Jong-Fast replied, “I mean, it’s complicated to be hardened by, you know, The Handmaid's Tale justice, but I thought that was a good decision.”
