CDC Advice on Hurricanes.

Understand up front that I am all for getting vaccinated against COVID. Diane and I received our two Moderna shots back in February and March, and survived the process. Unless people have serious health issues that argue against receiving the vaccine, I’m sure their doctors would encourage them to go ahead and get the shots. For most adults getting vaccinated is far safer than getting COVID. I do not, however, agree with vaccine mandates or any similar coercive measures by government agencies, whether local, state, or federal. Such health decisions should not be made by politicians and government bureaucrats, but rather by individuals in consultation with their doctors. 

The bureaucrats at the CDC would, of course, like the federal government to require all to be vaccinated. Presumably those who refuse should be punished in some significant way. Driven by this mindset, and lacking a universal mandate, they apparently grasp at the irrational, anything they believe will motivate the unvaccinated. Their latest pronouncement is timed to the current hurricane season and includes the CDC’s advice on preparing for a hurricane. The first and presumably most important item on their list:

• Get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can. COVID-19 vaccines help protect you from getting sick or severely ill with COVID-19 and may also help protect people around you.

The pronouncement continues by listing the standard advice on hurricane preparation of the sort published by emergency agencies and widely available elsewhere. (You can read the entire CDC announcement here.) I suppose the CDC really isn’t telling us the COVID vaccine will protect us from hurricanes. They probably just hoped to find another way to demand the unvaccinated comply. Of course, the other question: How many people would actually turn to the Center for Disease Control for advice on hurricane preparations? One person who apparently did check with the CDC in advance of the current storm is the President. On Sunday evening he issued a warning to those in Henri’s path. Rather than telling them to make the usual storm preparations, he focused on COVID: 

“To those in Henri’s path: Don’t forget that you may need to seek shelter while we’re still battling COVID-19 and the Delta variant…So wear a mask and try to observe social distancing…And to everyone across the country, don’t get caught by the next storm. Get vaccinated now.”

So comforting to find the President and the CDC of one mind. At least someone in his administration agrees with him.