Americans can quibble about some of the fine print as much as they like. President Joe Biden’s choice Thursday to mandate vaccination or regular testing, mask-wearing and social distancing for federal employees — a reversal of his previous position that vaccination ought to be voluntary — makes a lot of sense under these changing circumstances. This won’t be the first time that federal employees have been asked to model good behavior. Some private employers are following suit. We would encourage others to do so as well. The stakes are too high for Americans to be satisfied with a “you do you” approach to public health, anymore than we ought to accept traffic signals or speed limits as mere suggestions.
Yet resistance to mask wearing continues. At least nine states have banned local mask mandates. This is unconscionable. It’s one thing to question the CDC about data regarding how often vaccinated individuals have tested positive for the delta variant, it’s quite another to reject mask wearing out of hand as if the prospect of cloth or paper covering mouth and nose was an imposition beyond reason. The latest war of words between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy over the imposition of a mask mandate in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber is downright juvenile. It’s just a mask, Mr. McCarthy. Surely, the chamber’s dress code is more daunting.
