Free Essay on Politics and Pandemic: Analyzing Covid-19 Policies in the United States

Introduction

|Covid-19 emergency declarations allowed governors to exercise emergency powers (Baccini & Brodeur, 2020). These powers included activation of state emergency personnel funds, protection of consumers against higher prices, support of the local governments, and enhancement of regulations to maximize accessibility to healthcare. This essay analyzes how the highly politicized nature of the pandemic in the United States impacted the spread of Covid-19 as discussed.

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Transmission Policies

Policies for Increased Transmission of Covid-19

After imposing Coronavirus social distancing requirements, some states like Texas felt that these measures were straining their economy (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). There were falling oil prices and damages in airlines that lead to the loss of jobs. Governor Gregg Abbott decided to reopen the economy by letting restaurants, movie theatres, and malls open in a limited capacity (Baccini & Brodeur, 2020). This resulted in the higher transmission of Covid-19 since people ignored social distancing and stopped wearing masks (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). In due time, hospitals were filled with patients, yet there were no enough doctors.

Policies for Decreased Transmission of Covid-19

States took various actions to decrease the spread of coronavirus disease. This is especially true for States that were hardest hit by the outbreak, including Delaware. Some of these policies include; state social distancing actions and state covid-19 health policy actions (Baccini & Brodeur, 2020). Social distance measures like mandatory stay at home, closing of schools, banning large gatherings, limiting bars, and restaurant access. These policies were effective in reducing covid-19 since they limited face to face contact. The disease majorly spread through close contact with infected people. On March 18, 2020, the government utilized the enactment of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to ensure access to coronavirus testing kits (Baccini & Brodeur, 2020). Testing ensured that infected individuals were isolated to avoid transmission. States like Alaska, Hawaii, and California responded by enhancing access to telehealth services. More states implemented mandatory emergency paid sick leave for infected people.

Policy Benefits and Harm

Covid-19 policies benefitted politicians and harmed the public. The pandemic was supposed to bring people together but relatively enhanced political divides. Public health policies, including stay-at-home orders, bans on social gatherings, and mask mandates, were issued strategically in terms of timing and duration (Fowler et al., 2020). Political partisanships that arose from distinctions in beliefs about the virus propagated into the adoption of state policies. People living in states won by Hillary Clinton, for instance, have been able to live under stay-at-home orders, wearing masks, and limited social gatherings. In democratic areas, there exist pressure to keep businesses closed and shut down the economy due to distrust in the president rather than proposals grounded on evidence. Rather than driving public health policy with evidence and theory, these policies were driven by the relative power of partisans (Fowler et al., 2020). State leaders missed opportunities to limit gatherings, adopt mask ordinances, and allow businesses to operate efficiently. Bad coronavirus policies that were distorted by partisanship led to the loss of jobs and cost lives.

Impacts of Resource Inequality on Vaccine Dispersal

Resource inequality affects seniors, children in rural communities, African Americans, and Latinos (Bailey & Moon, 2020). Public health policy attempts to implement the best possible intervention for a given target community based on new budgetary restrictions, politics, and medicine. Vaccine dispersal inequality will affect disadvantage social groups, including Latinos, seniors, and African Americans, who generally encounter more significant health risks due to low wages, overpopulation, and chronic and acute health problems, compared to advantaged social groups, including Whites (Bailey & Moon, 2020). Since no intervention targeted at vulnerable populations can address all public health goals singularly when the focus is giving vaccines to close inequalities and health disparities, disadvantaged social groups will benefit the least. It will be easier for advantaged social groups to benefit from the vaccine since, unlike the underprivileged groups, they have fewer economic and social barriers linked to receiving healthcare services.

Evolving Immunity for Covid-19

Yes, I think we will evolve to some immunity to Covid-19. This is because immunologists have mentioned that so far, the results of a vaccine are becoming predictable. After digging deep into the SARS-CoV-2, immunologists have seen great immune responses and fantastic-looking antibodies (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). several researchers suggest that vaccine candidates against SARA-CoV-2 provoked a strong response to antibodies, a positive sign of vaccines generating immunity.

Conclusion

Politics played a crucial role in establishing policies regarding the transmission of covid-19 disease in America. With most politicians acting to remain favorable to the public, media stations were used to announce varied and inaccurate results regarding the number of deaths and spread of the disease. Policies harmed individuals more than the politicians since other than acting based on evidence of the adverse impacts of the disease; some people acted based on how much they distrusted the government and its policies, causing more transmission and more deaths.

References

Baccini, L., & Brodeur, A. (2020). Explaining Governors' Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3579229

Bailey, Z. D., & Moon, J. R. (2020). Racism and the Political Economy of COVID-19: Will We Continue to Resurrect the Past?. Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law. https://read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/article/45/6/937/165296/

Racism-and-the-Political-Economy-of-COVID-19-WillCentre for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, November 3). Coronavirus disease: Using antibody tests. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/resources/antibody-tests.html

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, October 26). Impact of social distancing measures on coronavirus disease healthcare demand, Central Texas, USA. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/10/20-1702_article

Fowler, L., Kettler, J. J., & Witt, S. L. (2020). Pandemics and Partisanship: Following Old Paths into Uncharted Territory. American Politics Research, 1532673X20961024. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1532673X20961024