While Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer battles a spike in coronavirus cases, she is hesitant to implement new restrictions while pleading with federal officials to increase vaccine availability for the state.
Summary
As vaccine rates continue to increase, Michigan has become the worst coronavirus hotspot in the nation, reporting a spike of nearly 7,000 new cases on Saturday.
- In response to the increasing cases, the federal government is sending additional resources to Michigan including resources to increase testing capacity and the number of people able to provide vaccinations, but not more doses of vaccines.
- Michigan’s Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, joined with the state’s congressional delegation to urge President Biden to surge more vaccine doses to the state, a move the Biden administration has resisted for several states, not just Michigan.
- On Friday, Whitmer asked Michiganders to voluntarily avoid indoor dining and urged local youth sports officials to pause activities for two weeks to help combat the spike in coronavirus cases.
- Whitmer also asked schools to teach remotely for two weeks, but no mandates or health orders were implemented.
- Just days after Gov. Whitmer expressed concern about Michiganders traveling to Florida, a top location of multiple covid variants, for spring break, a top Whitmer aide was caught posting Florida vacation photos on social media.
- Vox criticized Gov. Whitmer in their coverage, saying her efforts to urge personal responsibility and to take an “incremental approach” to reinstating restrictions during the surge “flies in the face” of her stances last year, “even in the face of militant right-wing protests.”
- The New York Times offered a similar contrast, but more sympathetically painted Whitmer as a high-profile Democrat politician caught between doctors and public health specialists on one side, and a public exasperated with lockdowns and hopeful over vaccines.
- Newsweek’s article over, Tricia Foster, the Whitmer aide spending time in Florida repeatedly quotes the Whitmer administration calling the original reporting of her Florida trip by conservative outlet Breitbart “a partisan attack.”
- Fox News, RedState, and the Washington Examiner all delighted in reporting on Foster’s trip to Florida despite her boss’ warnings.
- Newsmax framed Michigan’s spike in coronavirus cases as evidence of the Biden administration’s failure with respect to its vaccination program, noting Whitmer’s request for more vaccines while Biden officials continue with a “population-based” strategy rather than caseload emphasis.
- The Daily Caller highlighted Whitmer’s personal plea to the President for more single-dose vaccines for the state, which was denied. The Daily Caller ended the piece noting Whitmer’s persistence.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
