Well, is the pandemic over or not? Did we not watch world health leaders in the US and abroad declare that we’d entered the “endemic” stage of this whole mess months ago?
Heck, even the US military has dropped its COVID vaccine requirements just this week, signaling the surefire end to this long national nightmare that was only exacerbated by the massive overreaches of the federal government.
But this week, President Biden appeared to be giving some strong mixed signals on the whole thing.
The White House’s Department of Health and Human Services has extended the COVID-19 state of emergency.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the decision Wednesday via a declaration titled, “Renewal of Determination that a Public Health Emergency Exists.”
The sentiment of the statement was undeniable.
“As a result of the continued consequences of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, on this date and after consultation with public health officials as necessary, I, Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, pursuant to the authority vested in me under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, do hereby renew, effective January 11, 2023, the January 31, 2020, determination by former Secretary Alex M. Azar II, that he previously renewed on April 21, 2020, July 23, 2020, October 2, 2020, and January 7, 2021, and that I renewed on April 15, 2021, July 19, 2021, October 15, 2021, January 14, 2022, April 12, 2022, July 15, 2022, and October 13, 2022, that a public health emergency exists and has existed since January 27, 2020, nationwide.”
The move comes months after Joe Biden himself, in an attempt to award himself his own sort of merit badge, declared the pandemic “over”.
