Biden administration defends COVID emergency response teams after criticism from Missouri governors

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New coronavirus SARS CoV2, which causes COVID-19. Meanwhile, new COVID mutations called variants are now spreading in the United States, including the delta variant. Photomicrograph by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

WASHINGTON President Joe Bidens, senior COVID-19 advisers on Thursday defended the administration’s strategies to boost vaccinations in states, after the governor of Missouris said federal door-to-door outreach efforts are not welcome.

Biden’s senior adviser, Jeff Zients, said anyone who mischaracterizes the administration’s attempts is doing the country a disservice.

Missouri Governor Michael Parson. Credit: Governor of Missouri’s website.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday voiced his opposition to door-to-door vaccination, according to the Missouri Independent, amid an influx of federal aid the state has requested aimed at containing a wave of COVID-19 infections there.

The first member of a newly formed Federal Emergency Response Team arrived in Missouri this week, along with others, to join in person and remotely to help with data, research, immunization strategies and awareness.

Parson, a Republican, wrote on Facebook that he had asked state health department officials to tell the federal government to send government employees or agents door to door to force vaccination would NOT be an effective OR welcome strategy in Missouri.

Missouri, in particular, has faced Delta, a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus and has become the dominant variant in the United States, accounting for 51.7% of COVID-19 infections, according to CDC data. In Missouri, the figure is much higher at 73.3%.

(The numbers are based on the proportions of “variants of concern” in each state, such as the Delta or the UK variant, according to the CDC.)

Zients, the COVID-19 response coordinator for the White House, was asked about Parsons’ comments during a press briefing Thursday. Zients first pointed out that the federal government’s efforts to persuade unvaccinated people to get vaccinated hinge in part on trusted messengers, such as local doctors and community leaders, who are typically the people consulted for such advice.

These efforts impacted vaccinations in all communities, Zients added, before responding more directly to Parsons’ social media post, without mentioning him by name.

For those individuals, organizations, who are fueling disinformation and trying to distort this kind of trusted messenger work, I think you are doing the country a disservice and the doctors, religious leaders, community leaders and others who are doing a disservice. are working to get people vaccinated, save lives and help end this pandemic, Zients said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki also responded to Parson’s remark during Thursday’s briefing, saying that the engagement of local leaders in immunization awareness has been effective. This approach and other strategies have boosted vaccinations in states like Florida and Georgia, she said.

A spokeswoman for Parson did not respond to a request for comment.

Several federal emergency response teams are working with Missouri and a handful of other states, including Nevada, as counties in those states battle rising infections. These rising numbers of cases come after the national rate of COVID-19 infection has dropped.

Federal teams will provide expert support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on outbreak investigations; work with local health authorities to obtain more treatment for people with COVID-19; and help states increase their vaccine skills and expand access to vaccinations and testing, according to the White House.

In the days and weeks to come, we will continue to ensure that states have access to the specific federal resources and capabilities they need to fight the virus, Zients said Thursday.

Areas where COVID-19 infections have increased also tend to be the areas with the lowest vaccination rates, according to CDC officials.

Of the 173 counties with the highest case rates, the vast majority, 93%, have less than 40% of their residents vaccinated, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.

She pointed out that existing vaccines have been shown to be effective against the Delta variant of the virus which accounts for a growing share of U.S. COVID-19 infections, and that areas with low vaccination rates will allow this variant to spread even faster.

Preliminary data from several states in recent months has indicated that more than 99% of deaths from COVID-19 were in unvaccinated people, Walensky added.

Asked specifically about the increase in infections in southwestern Missouri, Walensky said this was an area federal officials were watching closely due to low vaccination rates and the growing number of cases.

Meanwhile, the Delta variant is in Florida, according to CDC data. It accounts for 13.2% of COVID-19 infections, lower than the UK variant, which accounts for 48.6% of cases.

Florida Senate Democrats in the Legislature on Thursday sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, raising concerns about a growing number of cases of the “dangerous and rapidly spreading” delta variant.

“We, the undersigned members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, urge you to join your fellow Republican governors who are harnessing the power of their office to strongly urge reluctant residents to get vaccinated,” the letter reads.

Furthermore, “with the Delta variant now threatening both lives and livelihoods, and the infection rate rising again, more than a mere suggestion of vaccination is urgently needed, especially since nearly 50% of Floridians remain completely unvaccinated. As governor of this third largest state in the country, it is your responsibility to break this reluctance and close the vulnerability gap with urgency and action. “

Florida Phoenix editor-in-chief Diane Rado contributed to this report.

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