Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb received his COVID vaccination this week and offered some encouraging words to his fellow Hoosiers: “Better days are ahead.”
He’s right. One day in the future, Eric Holcomb will no longer be our governor. With any luck, we’ll have ousted Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett by then as well.
Republican Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Tate Reeves of Mississippi announced an immediate halt this week to mask mandates and all other restrictions in their respective states – a decision that President Biden, aka “Mr. Unity” dubbed “Neanderthal thinking.”
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb didn’t go that far in his criticism, opting instead to offer his heartfelt assurance to Hoosiers that they won’t be getting their Constitutional Rights back anytime soon.
Why is that, Governor Holcomb?
Coronavirus positivity rates in our state have plunged to record lows over the last two months. Hospitalizations in Indiana are at their lowest in eight months. And the age of eligibility for Hoosiers to receive the Coronavirus vaccine dropped to 50 this week. So why the delay in fully-reopening the state of Indiana, King Holcomb?
The governor correctly notes that only 9% of Hoosiers have been fully vaccinated so far, and another 21% under the age of 16 and don’t have an FDA-approved vaccine. From Holcomb’s perspective, it’s “unsafe” to rescind Coronavirus restrictions until those percentages are rise from their current levels.
So how high do those percentages need to climb in order to officially get Indiana residents and businesses out from under the thumb of their oppressive government? The governor declined to specify.
That’s understandable, of course, and it’s not as though Gov. Holcomb’s predictions have a shred of credibility at this point anyway. After all, this is the man who promised last August to rescind Coronavirus restrictions when the state’s positivity rate fell to 5%. As of Friday, March 5, Indiana’s positivity rate is hovering around 3.5%, so why are we still walking around in masks and forcing Hoosiers to shoulder additional financial consequences? Haven’t we suffered enough?
The problem with Governor Holcomb’s well-intentioned but misguided stance on vaccination rates is that it fails to take into account the number of Hoosiers who are opting to forgo the vaccine for personal reasons. Many of our citizens do not fall into one of the “high-risk” categories as defined by the CDC and thousands of others have already been infected and recovered from the Coronavirus previously. In other words, they don’t see the value in getting the vaccine and would rather abstain.
It’s not just the vaccination rates, of course. Governor Holcomb and state health commissioner Kristina Box both say they’re concerned that COVID mutations will spark another surge. Perhaps it will, but we’re not there yet, and the longer we financially hinder Hoosier workers and businesses, the harder it will be to endure and recover from such a scenario.
At this rate, the fastest path to reopening the state of Indiana isn’t vaccination rates, it’s throwing Governor Eric Holcomb out of office.
Mock n’ Rob have more on Governor Holcomb’s broken promises with respect to the pandemic in the clip below. Rob seems a little worked up about it. It’s definitely worth the listen.
https://omny.fm/shows/mock-rob/rob-rant-gov-holcomb-gets-vaccine-doesnt-give-a-ri
