Democratic Governor Defends Declaring Covid Emergency ‘Over,’ Tells CNN He’s Focused on Vaccines, Not Masks
Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) joined CNN Friday evening where he defended comments he made last week in which he declared an end to the medical emergency in his state with relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Polis told Colorado Public Radio, ‘The emergency is over,” and said of masking, “Public health [officials] don’t get to tell people what to wear; that’s just not their job.” The Democrat took a considerable amount of criticism over the comments.
The governor joined AC360 where he expounded on the comments during an interview with Anderson Cooper.
“Look, I hear terms like ‘virus tidal wave’ and I think what people want at this point in the pandemic are facts, not fear,” Polis said. “And people should be empowered to make decisions to protect themselves – science-based decisions with the health and safety we need to live.”
He continued:
We need to operate from doctors and scientists with the individual freedom and local control that we deserve. I think it should be no surprise that Julesburg, Colorado, population 1,253, addresses this in a different way than San Francisco or New York City, and even our own state. Cities like Denver, Aspen, Colorado Springs are all taking this seriously and making sure we have the capacity to serve those in need. But they have different approaches to do it.
Cooper then pointed out that Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) on Friday had ordered more than 1,000 National Guard troops to help with hospital staffing shortages in his state, and asked Polis how Colorado hospitals are holding up.
“Our infection rate’s been going down for over a month now,” said the governor. “We are in a much better place than we were a month or two ago. We don’t know when that will turn around. We know it’s a matter of when, not if, Omicron becomes prevalent here. But we have done a few things to prepare ourselves.”
Polis added that every Colorado resident can sign up for free at-home testing, and that the state also has 10 mobile monoclonal antibody treatment sites.
Cooper later asked, “You wouldn’t characterize what is happening in Colorado as a medical emergency at this point?”
Polis responded:
I think we had a medical emergency back in 2020. We had no room in hospitals, no treatment. Here’s where we are, Anderson. We have highly effective vaccines. When you get the booster, it even protects — very high level of protection – against Omicron with everything we know as long as you are boosted. Here’s what’s important and this is why the vaccine is even more important than masks.
If you wear a mask, it could reduce risk of getting the virus, but you know what? If you get it, you get it just as bad as if you weren’t wearing that mask. Whereas with the vaccine, not only does it reduce risk of getting the virus but if you get if, will be a much more mild case. We have about 1,200 people hospitalized with covid in Colorado. Only 150 of them are fully vaccinated, Anderson. Almost everybody – 85 percent of the people hospitalized – are unvaccinated.
Polis told Cooper that 76 percent of eligible residents in his state are vaccinated, including 80 percent of adults.
Watch above via CNN.
