And then suddenly, hatred.
On Monday afternoon, the presence of a journalist, wearing the mask, in the middle of a protest against compulsory vaccination, in Fowley Park in lower Manhattan, quickly became another subject of contestation.
“Take that off right now!” Nobody wears a mask here, ”yelled, her eyes full of anger, an elegantly dressed septuagenarian, under the approving gaze of her friend. ” What are you afraid of ? », Launched a man, the tone just as aggressive, calling the rest of the crowd to testify to the presence of the intruder.
Around, dozens of demonstrators shouted against “dictatorship” and “authoritarianism”, resounding the words “free” and “choice”.
A free choice, for them, but obviously not for all.
At the call of several unions, nurses, teachers, firefighters, a small handful of citizens gathered in front of one of the Federal Court buildings in New York to denounce the new compulsory vaccination policy – or mandatory weekly test in case of refusal – announced last week by Joe Biden. 100 million Americans are targeted, including government employees, state contractors and employees of companies with 100 or more employees.
“This is not the country in which I want to live,” summarized Michael Kane, a teacher in the city and at the head of the Teachers for Choice movement, who came to demonstrate. It is a measure that was taken to scare people. We have been vaccinated for months and the cases are increasing. So there is a problem, ”he said he believed.
The end of the persuasive speech of the White House, for a now more restrictive approach aimed at raising the level of vaccination of the population, triggered a wind of opposition which has not stopped for a few days to intensify among Americans opposed to this protection against COVID-19, but also within the Republican camp which hopes to transform this anger into a crisis, with the approach of the mid-term elections in 2022, to take better advantage of it.
In close ranks, 20 governors of Republican states have since Friday announced their intention to challenge this measure in court and have denounced in passing a political gesture described as authoritarian and “going beyond the limits”. Among them, Ron DeSantis of Florida who on Monday warned cities and businesses in his state that fines awaited them if they decided to implement this vaccination obligation.
Florida passed a law in January that prohibits requiring proof of vaccination. “If a government agency decides to impose a vaccine as a condition of employment, it breaks the law and you face a fine of $ 5,000 for each offense,” said the governor, a relative of Donald Trump, during a press conference.
The pandemic of coronavirus has been experiencing a resurgence in Florida since mid-summer. In mid-August, the daily number of deaths there exceeded the record for summer 2020, with 244 victims recorded in just one day, against 23 on average in June. Since the start of the pandemic, 46,000 people have died from Covid-19 in Florida. This is 15 times more than the toll of the September 11 attacks, commemorated with great emotion in New York last Saturday.
Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina, Texas now sit at the top of the list of states with the highest death rate from COVID-19, the latest data from the New York Times shows. The governors and several republican elected officials of these states have spoken out in recent days against compulsory vaccination, in addition to sometimes leading campaigns against the wearing of compulsory masks in public places and schools.
“There aren’t many Republicans willing to support this mandatory vaccination policy, and that’s myopia,” said Republican political strategist Gary Sasse, who lives in Rhode Island. The majority of Americans believe that we should use all tools to fight the virus, rather than pitting ourselves against each other. This should force elected officials to find a better speech to express their concern for individual rights without harming public health. “
Last week, a 73-year-old man from Alabama died of a heart attack in Mississippi after being turned away from 43 hospitals in three states where emergency services were at maximum capacity, reported the American public radio network NPR. The beds were occupied overwhelmingly by unvaccinated patients with the coronavirus.
On Thursday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, seeking re-election, called Joe Biden’s policy “scandal” and “excessive”, saying he was going to challenge it in court.
“There is a lot of hypocrisy in all this opposition, summarizes the actor and director Ray DeMattis, met Sunday in Central Park where he had come to read the Book Reviews of the New York Times. Politics should not be allowed to trump science on such an important public health issue. Why are these people, who are all supporters of Donald Trump, putting people’s lives at risk? To stay in office and defend ideologies. It is totally extraordinary. “
This opposition is generally seen as an anomaly, seen from New York where, on Monday, 70% of residents aged 12 and over were doubly vaccinated, according to the Centers for Desease Control and Prevention (CDC). Against 64% nationwide. New contaminations, hospitalizations and new deaths have been stable there for two weeks, while they are on the rise in the center, south and west of the country.
The delta variant is now the dominant strain in the United States. A vaccination of more than 90% is needed, according to Canadian epidemiologist Peter Jüni, of the University of Toronto, to cope.
“Joe Biden’s policy is seen as an opportunity by Republicans who know that in politics, like in baseball, the general manager is a hero only if the team wins,” said Democratic strategist Robert Lehrman in an interview at Duty. “If this mandatory vaccination succeeds in bringing the numbers down, Biden is going to come across as a considerate and visionary president, even among Republicans. Otherwise, it will weaken it ”.
Recent polls indicate that the Democrat is going into this new war with the support of the population, 50 to 60% of whom are in favor of compulsory vaccination. A third is strongly opposed to it. On Sunday, the country’s chief medical officer, Vivek Murthy, backed the White House decision calling it an “appropriate measure” to return to normal life in safe environments. The Business Roundtable, a group that brings together the heads of the largest companies in the United States, including Apple, Alphabet, Citigroup…, also welcomed the decision.
Conversely, a poll conducted by CNBC / Change Research earlier this month indicates that of the roughly 29% of Americans who are still unvaccinated, 83% say they will not change their mind. Obligation or not.
This report was partly funded with support from the Transat-Le Devoir International Journalism Fund.
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