These high-level discussions highlight the extent to which administration is trying to find better ways to protect Americans who live in communities where infection rates are rising.Officials are divided on whether new federal guidelines should be issued. Some fear that they could be politicized and encourage new Republican attacks. The camp thinks that recommending proof of vaccination will make the threat of vaccine passports a more potent conservative talking point. It would also alienate and stigmatize areas of the country where people have chosen not get the shot. They fear that calls to reimpose mandatory mask use will fail.One person said that it was political. They believe people like Floridian Gov. Ron DeSantis, and his company, are waiting for the White House's announcement of a vaccine mandate. Then they'll jump on it for political reasons.Some medical experts on the White House Covid Team who have been advocating for vaccine verification believe that they can provide a boost to the nation's immunization efforts and at least press state and local officials into reconsidering some of the public health measures that contributed to the slow spread of Covid-19 earlier during the pandemic.Participants at Sunday's meeting stated that asking states and jurisdictions for strict social distancing guidelines and masking guidelines would be easier politically than asking them to take a public stand about whether people have been vaccinated.The White House declined comment on the meeting. The Washington Post first reported last week that the White House was considering recommending Americans wear masks.Biden Health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discussed for weeks issuing new vaccination guidelines for Americans. This includes recommending proof that Americans have been vaccinated and imposing mandatory masks. According to a senior administration official, they have been trying to collect data about the Delta variant in order to support policy decisions.Ashish Jha, Brown University's dean, stated that the federal government could have a role but not be the one that actually does the vaccine verification.Officials have resisted the urge to reverse guidelines on masking. They claim that a return of mask mandates could confuse Americans and increase distrust in conservative rural communities. Fearful of political consequences and discrimination accusations, the administration has largely rejected the idea of officially recommending proof that vaccination is being given.The vaccine hesitant group would not sign a form if they were required to do so because they were informed today that they must get vaccinated. Michael Osterholm, director of Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, and epidemiologist who was on the coronavirus advisory panel during the presidential transition, stated that they could be exempted from signing the form. In trying to get this group vaccinated, we may be our worst enemy.Monday's announcement by the Department of Veterans Affairs was that it would place a vaccination requirement on frontline healthcare workers. Similar policies were supported earlier by several hospitals and medical associations.An administration that had been avoiding federal mandates for years because of concerns about a loss of confidence in vaccines and increased opposition, made a sudden shift with the vaccination requirement.Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, stated that it wasn't the government's role to force people to take the shots during a briefing Friday.Three days later, however, as caseloads reached levels not seen since May and Psaki took a new tone.She stated that it is prudent for the federal government not to ignore any possible steps. This was Monday, just before the VA launched its mandate.Georges Benjamin, the head of the American Public Health Association said that he expected the VA to become the first agency to impose mandates. This includes the Department of Defense. He said that he didn't expect the White House would go further and require all federal employees to be vaccinated. You just got into conflict with all the governors that said "Nope, not in our state," he said. The debate then turns to politics, and not about how you vaccine people.The VA's front-facing health workers will have 8 weeks to be fully vaccinated. This move was coordinated with an effort by private-sector groups to encourage vaccinations of health workers, organized by Ezekiel Emanuel (a Biden ally who was a former member of Covid-19 team that advised on the Biden transition).Emanuel stated in an interview that he supported mandating vaccinations, but that his work with the industry was not coordinated with the administration.He said that Biden had done all he could to support his vaccination drive. Is there anything else that can be done, other than a mandate.He said that the private sector effort was put together in the past two weeks and that additional health organizations have requested to sign on since it went public.He said that when you have 57 different health care organizations that don't agree on anything, you know that you have hit something common to them all.
