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Opinion: Biden's vaccine mandates are not enough. He must also mandate vaccines for travel.
We need vaccine passports and I personally do not want to fly with a bunch of ignorant TFG supporters who are too stupid to vaccinate
Link to tweet
To overcome covid-19, at least 80 percent of Americans need to be vaccinated. We are now at 54 percent. Voluntary efforts have proved to be insufficient. It is inevitable we will need another mandate — this time for domestic travel by planes, trains and buses.
Although vaccine hesitancy is at least partially the product of a unique moment of disinformation and polarized politics, what we are witnessing is not unusual. Appealing to people’s better nature has rarely persuaded 80 percent of Americans to do the right thing, even when the benefits are obvious. While World War II had overwhelming popular support, we needed a military draft because there weren’t enough volunteer soldiers. Similarly, we have requirements and enforcement throughout society — laws against drinking and driving, for wearing a seat belt, for mandatory schooling that includes required childhood immunizations, obtaining consent before sex — because we can’t count on voluntary compliance.
President Biden has mandated coronavirus vaccines for many Americans because persuasion has been insufficient to get vaccine uptake to 80 percent. But as welcome as the president’s measures were, they will not be enough. Mandating vaccinations for flying and other forms of interstate travel is now critical if we are to prevent a predictable surge of infections and deaths during the coming winter holiday periods.
Last year, AAA estimated that 50 million Americans would travel over Thanksgiving, while more than 80 million would do so in the Christmas and New Year period. About 9.5 million people took flights at Thanksgiving, and about 10.2 million flew in the days around Christmas. The outcome was huge surges in infections, reaching 3,500 deaths per day by January — more than the number of Americans killed on 9/11.
Last year’s winter holiday travel occurred largely before vaccines were available to the public. This year, many more people are expected to travel, especially by flying. A large proportion of these travelers will be highly vulnerable to infection and disease, because nearly 80 million American adults remain unvaccinated, and 48 million children younger than 12 are not yet eligible for vaccines. The only way to avert a repeat of last winter’s carnage is a substantial increase in vaccinations and rigorous enforcement of mask mandates both for adults and children.....
There is a short window to boost coronavirus vaccination rates to make interstate travel safer. Introducing mandates today will reduce infections and, most importantly, hospitalizations and deaths in November and beyond. The Biden administration must act now to avert the mass death we saw last winter, especially as we battle the more transmissible delta variant. By giving unvaccinated Americans tougher choices about their movement and daily lives, we may finally have the lever we need to increase vaccination rates and turn the corner in this pandemic.
Although vaccine hesitancy is at least partially the product of a unique moment of disinformation and polarized politics, what we are witnessing is not unusual. Appealing to people’s better nature has rarely persuaded 80 percent of Americans to do the right thing, even when the benefits are obvious. While World War II had overwhelming popular support, we needed a military draft because there weren’t enough volunteer soldiers. Similarly, we have requirements and enforcement throughout society — laws against drinking and driving, for wearing a seat belt, for mandatory schooling that includes required childhood immunizations, obtaining consent before sex — because we can’t count on voluntary compliance.
President Biden has mandated coronavirus vaccines for many Americans because persuasion has been insufficient to get vaccine uptake to 80 percent. But as welcome as the president’s measures were, they will not be enough. Mandating vaccinations for flying and other forms of interstate travel is now critical if we are to prevent a predictable surge of infections and deaths during the coming winter holiday periods.
Last year, AAA estimated that 50 million Americans would travel over Thanksgiving, while more than 80 million would do so in the Christmas and New Year period. About 9.5 million people took flights at Thanksgiving, and about 10.2 million flew in the days around Christmas. The outcome was huge surges in infections, reaching 3,500 deaths per day by January — more than the number of Americans killed on 9/11.
Last year’s winter holiday travel occurred largely before vaccines were available to the public. This year, many more people are expected to travel, especially by flying. A large proportion of these travelers will be highly vulnerable to infection and disease, because nearly 80 million American adults remain unvaccinated, and 48 million children younger than 12 are not yet eligible for vaccines. The only way to avert a repeat of last winter’s carnage is a substantial increase in vaccinations and rigorous enforcement of mask mandates both for adults and children.....
There is a short window to boost coronavirus vaccination rates to make interstate travel safer. Introducing mandates today will reduce infections and, most importantly, hospitalizations and deaths in November and beyond. The Biden administration must act now to avert the mass death we saw last winter, especially as we battle the more transmissible delta variant. By giving unvaccinated Americans tougher choices about their movement and daily lives, we may finally have the lever we need to increase vaccination rates and turn the corner in this pandemic.
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