Delays in receiving the vaccine in Fairfax County – Mercia Bowser – Decline in COVID hospitalizations and deaths – The virus as a factor in the recent election – Counties begin to sue on account of lawsuits falsely claiming voter fraud – Evening statistics
Biden has said that the rollout of the vaccination is “weeks ahead of schedule.” Perhaps that is true generally, but it is certainly not the case here. The webpage that provides the status for Fairfax County says that they are making appointments for those who registered for the vaccine on January 18th. It has been in this status for more than two weeks. I myself registered on January 22nd. At this rate I will not receive the vaccine until the end of April at the earliest.
The virus appears to be on the decline but it is not to be underestimated. Yesterday Mercia Bowser, sister of DC’s mayor, died from COVID-related complications at the age of 64. She is one of many; over 1,000 people in DC have died from the disease, and national daily death tolls have been ranging between 1,500 and 3,000 for the past few weeks –less than they were in December and early January, but considerably greater than the daily death tolls of the previous summer months. In the words of Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “It’s encouraging to see these trends coming down, but they’re coming down from an extraordinarily high place.”
Anita Dunn, a prominent Biden adviser, said that the coronavirus is the “best thing that could have happened” for Biden. There is naturally some backlash after this incautious remark was disclosed, but it is the simple truth. The statement is as much a reflection on Trump as on Biden. If Trump had displayed even the smallest amount of responsibility when the pandemic started, Biden’s task of defeating Trump in the recent election would have been much more difficult. If Trump had cooperated to some small degree with Fauci’s efforts to contain the virus, if he had not made outlandish claims endorsing quack medicines, if he had not attempted to portray the hospitalizations and deaths caused by COVID as part of a conspiracy to discredit him – if he had done any of these things, he not only would have spared the nation many casualties and much unnecessary suffering, but he would have made his own re-election much more likely.
Dekalb County and Cobb County, both of Georgia, have filed suits to recoup legal fees from the lawsuit that made claims of voter fraud, on the grounds that the claims were unsubstantiated and that lawsuit was therefore frivolous. The amounts that they are asking for are not enormous — $6,105 for Dekalb and $10,875 for Cobb – but it is yet another suit to add to the growing list of lawsuits that are besetting Trump since his presidency ended. Other counties in Georgia are considering similar motions.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 113,530,027; # of deaths worldwide: 2,518,255; # of cases U.S.: 29,050,435; # of deaths; U.S.: 520,708.