At the Capitol, the Delta variant sows concern and partisanship

WASHINGTON – Cases of the groundbreaking coronavirus have emerged in several congressional offices, including the speaker’s office. The line to test snakes internally through a long hallway and into an atrium of the visitors’ center. The Capitol doctor warned of the possible return of a mask warrant.

The Delta variant reached Capitol Hill, but a common enemy only deepened recriminations and anger between the two political parties. Republicans, caught between a political base that is often resistant to vaccination and an imperative to save the lives of their voters, point the finger at Democrats and accuse them, without evidence, of having concealed the origins of the virus.

Democrats blame Republicans who haven’t done much to push vaccine skeptics back into their ranks, and even now they’re slacking off calls for people to shoot.

“We have people here who have refused to be vaccinated and are actually discouraging others from getting the vaccine,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. “The Republican Party no longer lives in reality. It is pathetic.”

For much of the vaccinated nation, the resurgence of the coronavirus is elsewhere. In states like Vermont, Hawaii and Massachusetts, where at least 84% of adults have had one or two injections, the outbreaks in Alabama, Florida, Missouri and Arkansas are far, far away.

But the Capitol is one of the few places in America where red and blue intermingle almost daily – and resentment is high.

“Congress is like a national convention every day,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat who has reverted to wearing a mask, despite being fully vaccinated and 76.5% of adults in his state of Maryland have received at least one injection. “There are people who have come from all corners, hamlets and neighborhoods of the country. It is a Petri dish for the development of political ideas, but also plagues.

Republicans point out that the last high-profile bearers of the current plague were Democrats, Texas lawmakers who fled Austin to prevent a vote-restricting measure from being passed. Six of them – all of whom said they had been vaccinated – later tested positive and are believed to have infected a senior official under President Nancy Pelosi. Aid, also vaccinated, is moderately symptomatic.

“I think you, as the press, also have a responsibility to ask the Democrats questions,” Rep. Ronny Jackson, Republican of Texas, said Thursday when asked, and other doctors. Republicans, how many had been vaccinated at their conference. “How many Democrats are ready to say whether they’ve been vaccinated or not? What about the Texas House delegation, including the six who tested positive?

It’s clear on Capitol Hill that the resurgence of the coronavirus – which is once again filling intensive care units across the country – is not bringing the nation together.

“Part of my frustration comes from talking to former colleagues still working in intensive care,” said Rep. Ami Bera, Democrat from California and medical doctor. “The first year, they didn’t have much to treat patients. They were intubating and just trying to keep them alive. Now, for every patient they put on a ventilator, it was absolutely preventable. Each of them is not vaccinated.

To be fair, Texas lawmakers who were defiant and then brought the virus, sowed fear on both sides. Representative Kim Schrier, Washington Democrat and pediatrician, said the six groundbreaking cases were a wake-up call in the Capitol community.

On the floor of the House, at least among the Democrats, the masks are being put back in place. Lawmakers send staff for testing. Ms Pelosi and some senators told assistants to work from home – just weeks after many returned to Capitol Hill.

And as lawmakers and wizards look to this fall, when school resumes before children under 12 have access to vaccines, their concerns only worsen.

“If you are in an area where there are a lot of unvaccinated people and you have unvaccinated children, I would recommend that you put your masks back on,” Dr Schrier said. “If I had children under the age of 12, I would take very great precautions at this time.”

It’s still unclear how many Republicans in the House and Senate are vaccinated, as many of them have declined to say one way or another. Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin – who have pushed fringe theories about the virus – have said they will not get vaccinated because they have already had Covid-19. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who have had the virus always be vaccinated.)

Rep. Lauren Boebert, Republican from Colorado, proudly proclaimed this month at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas: “Don’t come knocking on my door with your ‘Fauci ouchie’. You leave hell alone for us. She was referring to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has become a right-wing bogeyman.

Congressional attending physician Dr Brian P. Monahan said some remained unprotected when he pleaded with lawmakers this week in a memorandum: “The Delta variant is a serious threat. I urge unvaccinated people to get vaccinated at all times. “

Executive assistants say the number of unvaccinated lawmakers is slowly declining. No. 2 House Republican Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana got his first shot on Sunday, a notable delay given that House Republican Ron Wright of Texas and an elected Republican from his home state , Luke Letlow, died of Covid19.

“It’s surprising to read that members were vaccinated in July when they could have been vaccinated in December,” grumbled Mr. Raskin.

But many Republicans will not disclose their immunization status, even when asked if they should set an example for their constituents.

“We believe in the protection of privacy in health matters. The main thing is that we believe it; it doesn’t stop at Covid’s doorstep, ”Rep. Andy Harris, Republican of Maryland and physician said Thursday. “Every citizen has the right to choose to be vaccinated, and then to choose not to disclose if they have received a vaccine. “

This kind of reluctance irritates Democrats. Andy Slavitt, a health policy expert who recently left Biden’s White House pandemic response team, called Mr Paul by name for speaking out about the vaccine.

“Why do we allow these people who are not working in our best interests to harm our country? ” He asked.

Mr Paul, an ophthalmologist, shrugged his shoulders and focused on the unproven theory that the novel coronavirus was created by scientists in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, saying it could have been much worse.

“Four million people have died in this pandemic with a death rate of 1%. They are experimenting with SARS viruses that have a 15 percent death rate, ”he said. “The good news about the Delta variant is that the vaccine seems to cover it. The same goes for natural infection.

And the lawmakers who have talked the most about questioning the effectiveness of vaccines, while mildly defensive, still persist. Mr Johnson said he was “only trying to ensure transparency on the part of the federal government so that my constituents have as much information to make an informed choice for themselves as to whether they should get the vaccine. “.

He then launched into a speech on recent data showing continued coronavirus infections in Israel, which prominent vaccine skeptics have cited to question the effectiveness of the vaccination. But these statistics don’t tell the whole story. According to the most recent Israeli analysis, the vaccine is over 90 percent effective against hospitalization.

Even beyond the Capitol, the frustration of lawmakers is felt. Representative Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat who was an emergency room doctor, said he recently joked with a friend in his district who is a vaccine denier about the dire consequences of his beliefs.

“It will prove Darwinism,” Ruiz told his voter, “because those who have common sense and use their wits will survive.”

He didn’t seem to be joking.

Carl Room contributed reports.