Should Michigan get more than their share of vaccine doses?


You have probably read that Michigan is getting hammered by the “UK variant” of the coronavirus; for example, 9 of the top 10 metropolitan areas with the highest numbers of new Covid cases are in Michigan.

You may also have read that Gov. Whitmer has requested of the Biden administration that Michigan get extra doses of the vaccines, at the expense of other states. And that the administration has turned her down on this request, affirming they’ll continue to distribute doses based on each state’s population.

It’s easy to feel sympathetic with the Governor. It’s likely that getting more vaccines would have helped alleviate the strain on hospitals, and even prevented some deaths. However, the fact is that vaccines aren’t the best way to fight a short-term surge. The best way is social distancing and mask-wearing, the same as they were last March. Unfortunately, Michigan, like most other states, has decided it’s over with the pandemic and isn’t even contemplating implementing these measures, at least not yet.

Of course, Gov. Whitmer got into a lot of trouble last April, when Michigan became the first battleground state in the revolt against Covid measures. Then, Gov. Whitmer held her ground and kept the state locked down long enough to bring the virus under control (which is a relative term, since the virus has never been “under control” anywhere in the US. Where’s it under control? Try Taiwan, with ten deaths in the whole pandemic, vs. about ten deaths in ten minutes in the US, even today). But now, sentiment is so much against further restrictions that Whitmer isn’t even trying very hard now.

Michigan has made their choice, but they shouldn’t even be asking other states to slow down their vaccinations, to keep the state from having to do what really needs to be done. It’s very likely that most other states would probably do the same thing, if they were in Michigan’s situation. And they may well be in Michigan’s situation soon, since there’s been no stopping the UK variant wherever it’s showed up: the UK, the Nordic countries, and especially Europe. The best thing to do is at least the easy stuff: wear masks, keep the gyms and tattoo parlors closed, etc. And keep vaccinating, as many people as you can.

I would love to hear any comments or questions you have on this post. Drop me an email at tom@tomalrich.com.

 

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