What is with the Delta Variant Fear-Mongering?
Fourth of July weekend is here. Pandemic or not, there are reasons to celebrate how America is the greatest country in the world, as there always are. While the Biden administration did not reach their goal of having 70 percent of adults vaccinated by July 4--though they tried to walk back as their goal--they still came close. On Thursday morning, POLITICO's David Lim wrote "Biden admin preps for next pandemic as Delta variant surges." And, on Friday afternoon, Brett Samuels for The Hill wrote "White House to trumpet return to normalcy despite delta variant." That being said, Emily DeCiccio reported for CNBC that former FDA chief, Scott Gottlieb, approves of the way the Biden-Harris administration is handling things. Hilary Brueck's Business Insider article from Friday even read that "Vaccinated US health experts are wearing masks indoors as the Delta variant spreads." To be fair, if it's anybody's fault, it's that of the World Health Organization. Last Friday, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. reported for CNBC that "WHO urges fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks as delta Covid variant spreads." From his piece:  The World Health Organization on Friday urged fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks, social distance and practice other Covid-19 pandemic safety measures as the highly contagious delta variant spreads rapidly across the globe. People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves, Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said during a news briefing from the agencys Geneva headquarters. Vaccine alone wont stop community transmission, Simao added. People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene ... the physical distance, avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important, even if youre vaccinated when you have a community transmission ongoing. ... WHO officials said they are asking fully vaccinated people to continue to play it safe because a large portion of the world remains unvaccinated and highly contagious variants, like delta, are spreading in many countries, spurring outbreaks. ... Yes, you can reduce some measures and different countries have different recommendations in that regard. But theres still the need for caution, Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior advisor to the WHOs director-general, said at the briefing. As we are seeing, there are new variants emerging.  The articles referenced above differentiate concerns between the vaccinate and unvaccinated, as do countless others from various outlets. When it comes to emerging variants, it's understandable to have and raise concerns for the unvaccinated. But it's something else to hold the vaccinated to the same standard, as the WHO does. On June 28, Los Angeles, where 59 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, now "strongly recommends everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors in public places as a precautionary measure." Matt recently reported on such ridiculousness. When it comes to this, like most things COVID-19 related, the WHO is not worth trusting. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, affirmed that vaccinated persons are safe from variants and do not need to wear a mask. Even if Dr. Rochelle Walensky refused to call out Los Angeles on their fear-mongering nonsense, which Matt called her out on, her assurances absolutely should set anyone straight who is thinking they need to wear a mask again after they've been vaccinated. Where the Biden-Harris administration has engaged in such panic porn, this fear-mongering has been resoundingly called out. Scott did so when reminding readers that, according to data from the U.K., the Delta variant is not more deadly, and has milder symptoms, as did Katie.