Faced with the resurgence of the pandemic, the United States is scrambling to avoid falling back into the throes of spring contamination rates. On Thursday, July 29, President Joe Biden was due to announce a package of measures to combat the spread of the Delta variant. Among these, a provision to which the administration was reluctant, given its political implications in a country where resistance to the anti-Covid vaccine is strong: compulsory vaccination for federal government officials, or some 2 million people .
According to details that have leaked to the press, officials will need to produce a vaccination certificate or undergo a weekly test. The millions of soldiers and Pentagon employees are not affected, unlike the employees and medical staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs who have two months to prove their immunization.
Joe Biden, who had started his mandate with a bang and reached, in one hundred days, the double of his initial goal of 100 million vaccinated, now stumbles on the failure of the next phase. He who wanted more than half of his fellow citizens to have received their two doses before the July 4th national holiday had to take note that the objective had not been reached. He still isn’t. As of July 27, 49.3% of the population was fully vaccinated (57.6% of over 12s), according to health authorities.
Back to masks
The United States, which had been the second country to start the immunization campaign, behind the United Kingdom, in mid-December 2020, is now left behind by China, Germany, France, Spain, Canada… In April, the United States administered more than 3 million daily injections. In the week of July 22, the average stood at 291,000 per day.
In this context, a wide debate has opened on compulsory vaccination. Cacophonic debate knowing that the federal government can hardly impose such a measure in a country so decentralized and concerned with the prerogatives of the local authorities. Administrations, schools, businesses, businesses announced initiatives in scattered order, leaving citizens in confusion.
This was not dispelled when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a return to masks. In mid-May, the health authority had – hastily, according to some – lifted its recommendations on wearing masks indoors, except in areas of high contamination. “You can get rid of your masks”, had announced with exultation the director of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky. On July 16, faced with the progression of the Delta variant, she described the situation as the “Pandemic of the unvaccinated”. On Tuesday, the CDC revised their position. New data, indicating that in “Rare occasions” people vaccinated “Could be contagious and transmit the virus to others”, have “Unfortunately obliged” authority to change its recommendations, explained Rochelle Walensky.
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