July 29, 2021 - Uncle Sam Needs You

Uncle Sam Needs You

July 29, 2021

President Biden today announced a number of measures to tackle head-on the root cause of the recent surge of Covid-19 - namely, vaccine hesitancy. He reminded reporters assembled at the White House that 70% of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose of vaccine (60% are fully vaccinated), which is a remarkable achievement in just 6 months. Nearly 400 million doses have been administered nationwide and at least 190 million Americans have received at least one dose. However, the success has been uneven. In Alabama, for instance, only 53% of adults have received at least one dose and only 43% have been fully vaccinated, which has allowed the Delta variant to rip through our State like a wildfire.

On Wednesday, 2,726 new cases were reported in Alabama and 18 deaths; today, there were 2,730 new cases and 6 more deaths. The 7-day moving average is now more than 2,000 new cases per day - 2,098 to be exact. Meanwhile, 101 statewide hospitals reported 1,251 confirmed patients, or 12.4 patients per hospital, the highest rate since early February. And the statewide positivity rate has risen to 21.5%.

As bad as these numbers are - and they are awful - it is important to be reminded that the odds are extremely remote (worse than being struck by lightning) that you can suffer a Delta infection severe enough to require hospitalization if you have been fully vaccinated. Although “breakthrough cases” happen and their symptoms can be very serious and potentially long-lasting, this still remains “a pandemic of the unvaccinated” - statistically, 97%+ of all hospitalizations and 99%+ of all deaths are unvaccinated. For that reason, President Biden’s mission this afternoon was to educate, persuade and incentivize the unvaccinated to get the vaccine.

There is data to suggest that the danger of Delta may be starting to sink in among the unvaccinated. In the last week, an average of 615.4K doses per day were administered in the United States, a 16% increase compared to the prior week. In Alabama, an average of over 9,000 doses per day were administered during the last week, a 36% increase over the prior week. While this is a far cry from the peak of 45,000 doses per day administered in Alabama in early April, it is progress. There were 2 days this week when over 12,000 doses were administered each day, the first time that has happened since May 25.

In his speech, President Biden recognized that publicly castigating the unvaccinated could possibly do more harm than good. Instead, he praised red state leaders, like Mitch McConnell and Gov. Kay Ivey, for unequivocally endorsing vaccinations, and thanked the NFL for adopting a policy that teams will have to forfeit games if they suffer Covid outbreaks next season. He pleaded for states to set aside federal American Rescue Plan dollars for use in paying citizens to get vaccinated. He announced that small- and medium-sized businesses will be reimbursed by the federal government for paid leave to employees to get family members, including their children, vaccinated.

Biden also used the power of his office as the CEO of the U.S. government. Every one of the 4 million civilian federal employees will be required to get vaccinated or be forced to submit to regular testing, social distancing, mask requirements and restrictions on most travel. The President also directed the Defense Department to add the coronavirus vaccine to the list of required vaccinations for all members of the military. And finally, he said he will issue an executive order requiring those companies who do business with the federal government to take similar steps to vaccinate their work forces.

It is a shame it has come to this. We are the only nation in the world that has the power to vaccinate every one of its citizens and stamp out this pandemic once and for all. At no cost to anyone. The President even hinted that children between the ages of 5 and 11 will have access to vaccinations by “early in the fall.” This afternoon, President Biden made it clear: “Uncle Sam Needs You.” The totals:

7/16 - 999

7/19 - 2,343

7/20 - 1,391

7/21 - 1,632

7/22 - 1,567

7/23 - 1,733

7/24 - 1,888

7/25 - 1,536

7/26 - 1,403

7/27 - 2,667

7/28 - 2,726

7/29 - 2,730