‘We have to end the mandates': Is Donald Trump right about COVID?

Siam (No)

Since the COVID pandemic started nearly two years ago and has been an agonizingly painful time for almost everyone, changing the way everyone everywhere lives their lives—both at home and work or school. Healthcare leaders and the government have brought forth many mandates over the past year. But the mandates should not end just because ex-president Donald Trump demands they do.

COVID has been greatly politicized, and politicians with no medical knowledge demanding the end of mandates only do so to generate more votes among their disgruntled constituents. Almost 73% of the country is already vaccinated, allowing most of America to reopen again. Mandates exist with the intention to protect everyone, including and especially healthcare workers, who are at a heightened risk of acquiring the infection and transmitting it to the vulnerable population. These workers need a healthy environment to deliver medical care without compromising patient safety. Further, healthcare workers are already stressed, and there is a shortage all over the nation. Across the globe, with its strict mandates, China has fared much better than the US in combatting the pandemic.

Already, Americans have seen a reduction in hospitalizations and severe symptoms of COVID—chiefly due to vaccination and masks. The good news is that the mandates are not permanent. Already several nations have started to relax their mandates, as the pandemic has turned into an epidemic—and America will soon follow, without Trump's urging. A few more months of sacrifice will enable all of us to enjoy cherished freedom once again and put the pandemic in the past. 

People who listen to politicians like Trump are gambling with their precious life; it is time to put politics aside and listen to what science is saying—consider getting the vaccine.

Curtice (Yes)

Perhaps someday, Dr. Fauci, the CDC, and the politicians and the media who defend the government’s proclamations, will listen to the vast American people who are done with this pandemic. As Donald Trump and others have said recently, it is time we end the COVID mandates.

The worst is over. After a rapid increase, the number of reported cases and hospitalizations from the Omicron variant is dropping rapidly. Soon there may be few left to infect, which is how, as Dr. Fauci once put it, we can achieve herd immunity.

Some European countries have already lifted or are in the process of lifting most restrictions. Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have recently ended most or all of their COVID restrictions. Even some blue cities and states in America have begun heading in that direction. Denver allowed its mask mandate and proof of vaccine requirements to expire on February 3rd. It's time the United States and the individual states in the union do the same. California, Oregon, and New York should take notice as they continue locking down and mask-mandates despite all the available evidence.

A recently released Johns Hopkins study determined that lockdowns were not effective in saving lives during the pandemic. In fact, according to the study, lockdowns across the US and Europe reduced the COVID-19 mortality by only 0.2% on average. Yet lockdowns and other restrictions, such as mask mandates, social distancing, and vaccine passports, caused great economic, educational, and psychological harm, without actually curbing pandemic—regions across the globe have seen spikes in cases despite such measures being put in place. It’s time the world hears President Trump and wake up to the data: COVID is nearly endemic. We must adapt to, like the flu, and other things that regularly kill us.