By: Alice Salles
President Joe Biden has failed his vaccination goal. According to the White House, it is unlikely that at least 70 percent of Americans will receive a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine by July 4. Despite this, officials say that Americans will still be protected enough to celebrate Independence Day with family and friends.
You heard that right. No ludicrous lockdowns or threat of lockdowns loom in the horizon.
This should once and for all confirm that the pandemic never warranted any of the draconian responses that ruined 2020 for most of us. Even media outlets that have long played down lockdown skepticism such as Axios are pointing out that the latest White House message is “vastly different” than this time last year, “when public health officials and some governors were limiting large gatherings and pleading with the public to only host small, outdoor events for the holiday.”
So, what happened?
People Aren’t Falling in Line
In January 2021, a survey found that there were three groups that were less likely to take the coronavirus vaccine: black people, women, and conservatives. In spite of the difficulties the Biden administration would eventually face, the White House boosted its vaccination goal to 1.5 million Americans per day, stating that it expected to see at least 70 percent of the entire population fully vaccinated by Independence Day.
Biden’s pleas fell on deaf ears as many states vaccinated below 60 percent of their population. Healthcare workers, members of the military, and even nursing home staff are refusing the shot. And across the country, employees are suing employers over vaccine requirements. It is clear people aren’t exactly going along with whatever Dr. Anthony Fauci says.
It is this reality that seems to have changed the White House’s tone.
Thanks to states like Florida, which have completely blown the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s covid narrative on social distancing and masks, and are now fighting vaccine passports, federal officials appear to understand that they can no longer intimidate and threaten their way to universal compliance.
During Tuesday’s press conference discussing the Biden administration’s expectations, Jeffrey Zients, the head of the White House covid response team, said that young Americans are fed up. They no longer believe the hype.
“The reality is, many younger Americans have felt like Covid-19 is not something that impacts them and have been less eager to get the shot,” he said.
We Have Biden to Thank for Our Freedom
On Tuesday, Zients made yet another revealing comment.
Instead of carrying on with the customary fear campaign, he hinted at how thankful all Americans should be for being allowed to celebrate the Fourth of July. After all, if it weren’t for the benevolence of those calling the shots in DC, he stated, we wouldn’t be “entering a summer of joy.”
Throughout the last five months, the President has set goals to rally the American people behind defeating this virus, with the most important and most ambitious being to celebrate our independence from the virus on July 4th—for America to look like America again. And thanks [to] the President’s whole-of-government effort and the American people stepping up to do their part, we are there.
The virus is in retreat in communities across the country. We are entering a summer of joy, a summer of freedom. This is cause for celebration, and that’s exactly what Americans will be able to do on July 4th: celebrate independence from the virus.
Apparently unbeknownst to Zients and the entire US covid response team, it wasn’t a virus that stripped our freedoms, but the overreaching hands of power-hungry politicians who were incapable of reading basic data.
Unfortunately, Americans’ reluctance to openly resist the lockdowns did a great deal to help the federal and state governments in their tyrannical efforts. Perhaps, the fact the vaccination campaign isn’t as successful as Biden’s team wished is a sign that next time Americans won’t be so easily pushed around.
This was originally published on Mises.org.
Leave a Comment