DeWine ready to gamble on vaccine lottery. Plus: A sudden about face on vax'd people and masks
By Gary Abernathy
DeWine ready to gamble on a vaccine lottery
From my latest in the Washington Post…
Why did the governor suddenly reverse course and announce an end to mandates he has aggressively defended for more than a year? The answer can be found in Ohio’s statehouse in Columbus, where DeWine’s fellow Republicans were wresting control of the matter from the governor’s grip…
…On Wednesday, DeWine acknowledged that the pace of vaccinations is too slow, hence his lottery scheme. Details are still being worked out, but there will be five weekly drawings for a $1 million prize, open to all residents 18 years or older who have received at least one shot. Teenagers can sign up for a separate lottery to win one of five four-year scholarships with room and board to a public university in Ohio. The first drawings will be May 26…
…DeWine faces the dilemma of many Republican governors today: His handling of the pandemic is more popular with Democrats than Republicans. He would probably cruise to reelection in next year’s general election, but danger lurks months earlier in his own party’s primary. Former congressman James B. Renacci has one foot in already, and some among the large Senate field could change courseand instead seek to unseat DeWine, as Mandel’s caustic tweet hints.
Read the whole column here. Subcription may be required.
CDC says it’s ok for vax’d people to ditch masks. Seriously?
There’s a reason people find it difficult to trust many of the leading covid health experts. The CDC announced Thursday that it’s ok for vaccinated people to stop wearing masks indoors, under most conditions.
This comes barely two weeks after experts urged vaccinated people to keep wearing masks indoors. More tellingly, the new guidance comes after Republicans in Congress grilled CDC officials on the unscientific safeguards being foisted on vaccinated Americans.
Our health experts, and many leading media figures (reporters, editors, anchors, talk show hosts), should recognize that most Americans are intelligent people who do not need medical degrees to understand common scientific principles, including the properties of vaccines, germs, viruses and so on. Being treated like children is insulting, and leads to pushback. When people are told to “follow the science,” but then recognize that the science being presented is contradictory or illogical — and often tinged with political motives — there will be an ensuing lack of trust.
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