President says pandemic over, so guess it is

I wouldn’t want to be the person who has to compose all the “walk-back” statements the Biden Administration has to make after comments like the President made Sunday in an interview on 60 Minutes. That staff member has to be busy all the time.
            But, Biden’s comments Sunday on COVID are ones I happen to agree with, along with a majority of people in this country: “The pandemic is over,” Biden said. “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it, but the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape.”
            What an uproar that made among the White House staff, his fellow Democrats and some in the medical field who say it’s far from over. With his “pandemic is over” comments, Biden hopefully put to bed his party’s efforts to get more COVID emergency funding from Congress. After all, if the pandemic is over, what do we need that money for? Earlier this month on Sept. 6, Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said “The pandemic isn’t over.” Then, there’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who said that more funding to address COVID-19 and future pandemics is “incredibly important,” adding, “We have to be prepared for the next potential pandemic.”
    And, wow, what’s this going to do to the pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to continue to push yet another booster shot? The billions they’ve already made isn’t enough, I guess.
    COVID is going to be with us forever, and it will mutate into different forms. We’ve dealt with the flu, which also kills hundreds and sometimes thousands each year. We will all have to learn to live with it and take the precautions you feel are important. If that means you wear a mask—as some do in tough flu seasons— do it. If you want to get the vaccine and boosters, go ahead. But mandating those things are what’s wrong at this point in the COVID drama.