The COVID Compromise That Would End The Pandemic

As Omicron case counts and deaths have spiked and then plummeted across the United States and the rest of the world, many nations like England and Denmark — which throughout the pandemic have had the most draconian public health mandates — have realized that they have been futile or are simply no longer needed, and have begun to abandon them to restore normality to citizens’ lives. 

Despite this, the federal government — most notably members of the Biden administration — still seem intent on travel restrictions, requirements for boosters, and for many schoolchildren, firm mandates for both vaccinations and medical-grade masks. At every school board meeting I attend, I hear hundreds of parents desperately demanding an end to mandates after describing their severe psychological, social, health, and academic impact on their children, while a very small but vocal minority of parents insists on keeping mask, vaccination, distancing, testing and quarantine mandates in place as part of an effort to “stop the spread” of COVID-19. As a doctor, I have been devastated to hear numerous stories of unvaccinated schoolchildren being shunned and ridiculed by their own friends and classmates, who accuse them of being “murderers” and “selfish”.