Greg Abbott has no idea what he’s even trying to do
As usual, Gov. Greg Abbott has no idea what he is talking about. In his typical irresponsible fashion, Abbott recently claimed Texas could be “very close to herd immunity” while in the same breath admitting he didn’t even know what herd immunity was.
According to Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and Director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, “There is no way on God’s green earth that Texas is anywhere even close to herd immunity.”
Dr. Olsterholm pointed to Michigan and Minnesota as examples, where vaccination levels are at 22% and 24%, respectively, and are experiencing very high transmission rates. Texas only had 19% of the population fully vaccinated at the time of Abbott’s recent statement, making his claim utterly ridiculous.
Abbott has also irresponsibly lifted all restrictions for Covid protective measures in Texas, but apparently few are paying attention to him in Dallas or Collin Counties, where I spend the majority of my time and have yet to see anyone out and about without a mask on.
Abbott has apparently also entered an order making it illegal for Texas businesses to require any type of vaccination credentials, even for employees in the healthcare industry (with certain exceptions). If that isn’t unconstitutional, it should be. Admittedly, his order as written is difficult to interpret (and is full of self-serving statements).
Texas students have to provide proof of certain vaccinations to attend public schools, unless they fill out a form and sign a sworn statement that it is against their religion or for other good cause. It would be much more sensible to have the same policy for Covid anti-vaxxers (which social media has begun referring to as “Antiva”). Put the burden on Antiva instead of everyone who is trying to stay healthy. But Abbott is more about making self-serving political statements than making any sense.
