President Joe Biden is fed up with Republican leaders who have opted to prioritize political games above the health of children (and adults) within their jurisdictions. Around the country, prominent Republicans have fought not just the imposition of vaccine requirements but even the enactment of basic safety precautions like mandates to wear face masks in schools (and elsewhere), no matter the fact that not a single age group is somehow automatically immune from the potentially deadly effects of COVID-19. Speaking at a middle school in Washington, D.C., this week, Biden told Republicans contemplating challenging new vaccine and testing mandates for many workers to “have at it.”
More from Biden: “I am so disappointed, particularly that some of the Republican governors have been so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier with the health of their communities.”
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) September 10, 2021
Among other provisions, Biden announced that all companies with 100 or more workers would be required to have their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested weekly for the virus. Predictably, Republican leaders have freaked out at the news, with Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel already saying that the GOP would be bringing the matter to court. As Biden put it when asked about these already announced challenges:
‘Have at it… I am so disappointed that particularly some of the Republican governors have been so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier with the health of their communities. We’re playing for real here. This isn’t a game, and I don’t know of any scientist out there in this field that doesn’t think it makes considerable sense to do the six things I’ve suggested… One of the lessons I hope our students can un-learn is that politics doesn’t have to be this way.’
Watch Biden’s remarks below:
Republicans, though, have consistently ignored the relevant science. For example, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis recently claimed that “at the end of the day,” COVID-19 vaccines are “about your health and whether you want that protection or not,” ignorantly elaborating that someone’s decision on whether to get vaccinated “really doesn’t impact me or anyone else” — although such isn’t the case. As Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health pointedly put it in response to DeSantis’s remarks:
‘I mean, obviously it’s important for you as an individual, for your own personal protection, safety, and health. But when you have a virus that’s circulating in the community, and you are not vaccinated, you are part of the problem, because you’re allowing yourself to be a vehicle for the virus to be spreading to someone else… when you’re dealing with an outbreak of an infectious disease, it isn’t only about you.’
“It isn’t only about you” — a message that so many Republican leaders could stand to take to heart but don’t. Check out Fauci’s remarks below:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that getting a vaccine “doesn’t impact me or anyone else.” Dr. Anthony Fauci says that is “completely incorrect.”
“When you have a virus that's circulating in the community, and you are not vaccinated, you are part of the problem,” Fauci says. pic.twitter.com/IXSWL3sLcn
— New Day (@NewDay) September 7, 2021
