COVID Angst Is Boiling Over and Biden Is Powerless to Stop It

Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, as the omicron variant kneecaps what many hoped would be a gradual recovery, Americans are united in one sentiment: frustration. “I feel like I’m swimming in the ocean at night, and I could be 100 yards from the shore or 100 miles, and all I can do is keep swimming,” Chip Franklin, a liberal-leaning internet talk show host, recently told The Washington Post. “Anybody that says they know what to do now is a liar.”

Messaging on how to combat the virus has grown increasingly confusing. And at the center of the fracas is Joe Biden’s administration, which, after some early good feeling around vaccine development and rollout, is back to struggling to get its arms around the ongoing crisis. Their uphill battle has been evident when it comes to the topic of masks, among others. In August, Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert who served on the Biden transition team’s COVID-19 Advisory Board, explained during a PBS interview that N95 and KN95 masks are more effective than cloth masks at effectively limiting virus transmission. Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst, echoed his comments in a splashy assertion of her own last month, saying, “Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations. There’s no place for them in light of omicron.”

Initially, the White House saw things differently; during a press conference in August, press secretary Jen Psaki shot down Osterholm’s argument, saying that the Biden administration would “continue to rely on the advice of medical experts in the federal government” and noting that Osterholm is no longer “an adviser to the president.” However, this week, Politico reported that the administration is having internal discussions about offering Americans free or heavily discounted N95 and KN95 masks to protect against the highly contagious omicron variant, while the Post reported that the CDC is weighing whether it should update its mask guidance to recommend that people opt for the highly protective masks. White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients went so far as to say in a press briefing on Wednesday that the Biden administration is “strongly considering options to make high-quality masks available to all Americans.”

This back-and-forth on masking is reminiscent of the White House dismissing as unworkable the idea of providing free at-home COVID-19 tests to all Americans. Two months later, Biden announced that the federal government would purchase a half billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests for public use. And this week, the White House mandated that private insurance companies will be obligated to cover the cost of eight at-home COVID tests per month—though given the red tape required (the tests must be purchased from an insurance company’s “preferred” pharmacy or retailer; out-of-network coverage would be capped at $12 per test; the whole thing may require filing for reimbursement), testing access will likely remain spotty.

And of course, there was the blowup around the federally recommended isolation period, which went from 10 days to 5, and did not require a negative test as long as the person was asymptomatic and wore a mask—a change that launched a thousand memes. The change prompted criticism from the American Medical Association, which said in a statement that “a dearth of tests at the moment does not justify omitting a testing requirement to exit a now shortened isolation.”

In fairness, the scientific community still has more questions than answers around COVID-19: its properties, its spread, and its impact on the body. But there are concerns that the White House’s inconsistent messaging could spell political disaster. According to Politico, a “growing number of Democrats” are urging the federal government to rethink its approach. “This is not easy. We understand it’s not easy, but we’ve got to follow the rules,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told the outlet. “But the rules need to be clear, and the CDC needs to be clearer than it has been.”

“I’m frustrated we are still behind on issues as important to families as testing, and supporting schools,” added Washington Democrat Patty Murray. “That’s not to say we haven’t made progress—it’s just clear we haven’t made enough.”

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