Morning Wire - Omicron & Herd Immunity | 2.21.22

Episode Date: February 21, 2022

What comes next for Covid and the country, the Beijing Olympics conclude, and the midterm issues and races to watch. Get the facts first on Morning Wire.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Omicron wave that surged through the population may now be protecting it. Experts believe 73% of Americans now have some level of immunity against the virus. As the number of infections crashes, so too will the rates of deaths in hospitalizations. Even as new variants appear, some experts say the worst is likely over. So what comes next for COVID and the country? I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, February 21st, and this is Morning Wire. The Olympic flame has been extinguished and the Beijing Games have closed.

What will be the legacy of one of the most politically charged games in our recent history? And which issues are hurting Democrats the most in competitive congressional districts? We have the results from new polling done by the Democratic Congressional Committee and a breakdown of the most vulnerable seats. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by Birch Gold Group. Inflation is destroying the dollar. Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401K with a precious metals IRA.

Text wire to 9-9-8-98 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation. Text the word wire to 98-98-98-98 to protect your savings today. A recent study found that around 73% of Americans have attained some level of immunity against the Omicron variant. Meanwhile, across the country, even in some of the strictest cities, COVID restrictions are being lifted. Joining us to talk about the latest developments with COVID and particularly immunity levels in the U.S. is Dr. Humann Hamadi, a research scientist and commentator on medicine and the pandemic. Dr. Hamadi, thanks for joining us.

It's a pleasure. So let's start with this new study, which found that more than 70% of people now have some level of immunity to Omicron. Is this, as the Associated Press asked, enough? Have we reached herd immunity? So that's a very interesting question. That's based on a single model done by a very reputable organization that calculates a lot of health metrics. It's based on a lot of assumptions, including community vaccination rates, case numbers that have been reported through official channels. But it doesn't account for at-home testing, for example, and other kinds of testing, which aren't reported.

I would suspect that the actual number is probably far higher, maybe above 80 or even 85%. But let's say it is 73% today. that's really approaching that limit that we consider to be required for herd immunity. Many people have set that bar around 80 to 85%. And that very same model is saying that we probably will hit that 80% threshold sometime in early March. So this is all a very positive sign, and it does show us that we're either at or very close to approaching herd immunity. So you're saying that we're reaching a point where we should feel very confident that we can start moving forward and make some significant changes. And that's my next question, actually. How should this influence public policy?

Well, when it comes to future policy moving forward, we have to keep in mind that until there's a reason for us to conduct any measures to try to reduce the spread of a variant, if that variant does not exist, and if we have no proof that one is out there or that what is out there may not be infectious or deadly, what's the point of really shutting society down? What's the point of putting in any kind of mandates? when there's only risk and no benefit. So I think moving forward, we need to really begin to acknowledge that, yes, this may come back in some way, shape, or form, but no differently than any other seasonal virus like we see with the flu or even the common cold, many of which are caused by coronaviruses. So one of the major flashpoints right now all over the country is masking policies in schools. We're seeing the lifting of a lot of these mandates in cities and in restaurants and other public spaces,

but not schools. What should we be doing in schools? It's very clear now what we should be doing in schools. There's been a lot of studies now done across the world as well as in the U.S. looking at rates of masking and their correlation with disease spread. And if you look at all of the studies taken together as well as individually, what we see is very interesting. Yes, there may be a statistically significant difference between schools and districts

and states that have mask mandates and those that don't. However, are those statistical differences clinically significant? And that's an important distinction. Yes, you may have a very minute difference in infection rates and spread, but that infection and spread difference may be only 0.01.02 percent. Is that really meaningful enough clinically to justify all the harms and all the disruptions that are caused by it? With children, there have been a lot of states, including California and particularly

Los Angeles County, who have really held onto those mandates with a tight grip and have been afraid to release them. But as you see the elections coming up, as you see politicians now being put in a position where they have to answer to their constituents, they're changing their tune very, very quickly. And it's looking like most of the country is going to begin to lift those if they haven't already. You mentioned Los Angeles County. A lot of these school systems that are still imposing mask mandates, they point to the CDC's guidance. Why is the state? Why is the CDC not changed its guidance? So a couple of reasons. One, the CDC has never made indoor masking of students a mandate or a requirement. They've made it a suggestion or recommendation. As they have said

themselves, the states, counties, and school districts are free to do as they wish. That's number one. Number two, they like to operate under an abundance of caution. Remember, the CDC is made up of political appointees who answer to elected officials. And when those factors exist, there are definitely political considerations as well as influences from outside organizations, such as labor unions, such as other groups. And all of those influences taken together force them to act in a way that doesn't consider science as its only measure. There are other considerations. And if we were to eliminate politics, if we were eliminate other factors beyond just politics, I think we would see a very different tune.

Unfortunately, politics and unions and other factors play a major role in public health policy as it stands today. Well, Dr. Hamadi, thank you so much for bringing us your insights. It's a pleasure. Thanks for having me. That was Dr. Humann Hamadi. Coming up, the Winter Olympics have come to an end. Looking for a great way to bring amazing flavor to your meals? Tessamase is the number one organic salad dressing company in the country because they put quality

and flavor above all else. Founded by three brothers with their mom's recipe, Tessamaze has changed the standard for great tasting, healthy dressings. Go to tessemase.com, that's T-E-S-E-M-A-E-S dot com, and use promo code WIRE to check out all of their amazing products and join the Tessam-A-M-A-S family today. Use promo code Wire to get 20% off your purchase. With as little publicity as we've seen in quite some time, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics have concluded.

Here to give us the highlights is Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan. Joe, the Olympics ultimately are about competition, even though they've become so much more than that. So let's start with how Team USA fared. Yeah, the U.S. ended up at the top half of the medal count, but it certainly was not a dominant performance in any way. As we've discussed here before, the U.S. got off to a very slow start and never were truly able to contend for the title of the most gold medals at the games, which is obviously a big deal. We finished tied for fourth place with eight gold medals behind Norway, Germany, and China. So the Chinese did beat us there, which is upsetting. However, there were some high points for teams.

USA. Speed skater Aaron Jackson became the first American woman to medal in the 500 meter race since 1994 winning the gold medal. And look, this is actually a really inspiring story here. So Jackson failed to qualify for the 500 meter slipping during the qualifying races. But her teammate, Brittany Bo, gave up her spot in the 500 so that Jackson could compete in the Olympic Games. It's really cool. Yeah, that certainly was a nice story. Then there's snowboarding star Chloe Kim. She won her second straight gold in the women's half pipe, and Nathan Chen became the first U.S. men's Olympic figure skaters since 2010 to win a gold medal. Obviously, there's more stories, but these are the highlights.

Yeah, it's good to hear some positive stories. Unfortunately, as we've noted before, there's a major controversy in figure skating. Tell us about that. Yeah, so a positive drug test from the Russian Olympic Committee figure skating team really took over the Olympics. Following Russia's gold medal in the team competition, it emerged that 15-year-old superstar Camila Vallieva had tested positive for an illegal heart medication, two months, prior to the start of the games. Most felt that the positive test should have disqualified her from the remaining events at the Olympics,

but the court of arbitration for sport declined to suspend her, citing her age, as well as the timing of the failed test and the threat of, quote, irreparable harm to the athlete. Right, and this didn't go over well, correct? No, not at all. NBC's figure skating analyst, Johnny Weir, and Tara Lipinski were not happy with the decision.

They called it a, quote, slapped the face of the other skaters. Volieva ended up finishing fourth in the women's individual figure skating event, failing to medal. Due to Valleyeva not earning a medal, the IOC did go through with the medal ceremony, which would not have happened had she had meddle, John. And what about Eileen Gou, the American-born Chinese skier? How did she fare? Well, she fared quite well. Gu, who we've mentioned was born and raised in San Francisco, but decided in 2019 to compete

for China and the games, finished with two gold medals and a silver, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Olympic Games. Gou reportedly made over $31 million off of endorsements in 2021, and that number should really increase with her Olympic success. Yeah, to imagine. So that's three medals the U.S. could have had. That's the way I look at it, yeah. Well, that wraps up in Olympics that's really been defined by politics and controversy. Yeah, it is. Joe, thanks for your coverage over the past two weeks. Hey, I love sports, John. So it is my pleasure, and I will continue to do it. That was Daily Wire sports reporter, Joe Morgan. With midterm primaries already underway in states across the country,

internal Democrat polling shows the party losing ground with a large swath of voters on key issues. Here with more on how the party is responding and which seats are particularly vulnerable is Daily Wires Cabot Phillips. So Cabot, you don't typically get a chance to look at internal polling. So what did we learn here? Yeah, you're right. So party leaders on both sides are constantly conducting internal polling on their own to keep a pulse on voter sentiment so they can relay that information to members and tell them which issues to focus on. Typically, internal polls stay internal, but this one from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was made public, and it's clearly giving the party reason for concern. They surveyed voters in the 60 most competitive congressional districts and found that of the three issues voters cited as the most important to them, inflation, health care, and COVID, Democrats are deeply unpopular across the board right now.

For example, 57% of voters agreed with a statement that, quote, Democrats in Congress have taken things too far, in their pandemic response. 57%. Yeah, 57%. And among the self-identified swing voters in those districts, these are the most important when it comes to midterms, that number jumped to 66%. Elsewhere on the economy and race relations,

the majority of swing voters agreed with a statement, quote, Democrats in Congress are spending money out of control. And they also agreed a majority of them that, quote, Democrats are teaching young children that America is a racist country and that white people are racist. And it really got even worse when it came to other issues. like immigration. 80% of swing voters, 80% agreed with the statement that, quote,

Democrats in Congress have created a border crisis that allows illegal immigrants to enter the country without repercussions. That's a really staggering number given just how divided Americans are on most issues. 80% of any group agreeing on any issue really speaks volumes. Now, one part that jumped out was not what voters listed as their most important issues, but rather what they listed as their least important. So tell us about that. Yeah, since taking power in 2020, Democrats have spent a huge portion of their time and also their political capital on two main issues, racial justice and so-called voter discrimination or voting rights, whatever you want to call it. Both of those things were actually listed at the very bottom of the list among voters as to what was the most important topic to there. So kind of a disconnect between what Democrats have focused on and what voters say is more important to them.

Well, this poll found that 80% of self-identified swing voters agree. with the statement, quote, Democrats in Congress support defunding the police and taking more cops off the street. So it's really not as easy as just telling voters your party is shifted. You've actually got to show people and change their minds, which historically is very difficult in a midterm election. So it seems, though, that Democrats are aware of these voter sentiments. Is there any evidence that they're responding? Yeah, there's no question they're tempering expectations right now ahead of 2022, the D-Triple C just added seven more Democrat members to its, quote, front-line list. These are candidates who they view as the most vulnerable.

The members themselves are well aware of just how much things are shifting right now, and a lot of them are responding by retiring instead of facing defeat. This week, Representative Kathleen Rice of New York, for example, announced that she would be stepping down. That made her the 30th House Democrat who announced they'll be retiring before the midterms. That's the most Democrats stepping down in one year since 9th. 1992. Right. And that number could get even higher as November comes around. Yeah, wouldn't be surprising. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That's Daily Wires, Cabot Phillips.

Another story we're tracking this week. Police in Ottawa used tear gas, horses, and rubber bullets to clear out most of the Freedom Convoy protesters on Parliament Hill. At least 170 people have been arrested. And reports say up to 50 trucks have been removed. If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to more. Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five-star review. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.