California Record: Newsom is behind Biden’s new Covid vaccine requirements as it struggles to make it work

The governor, who is in the final days of the fight against an attempt to remove him from office, also used Biden’s announcement to mark a stark contrast to Republican Larry Elder, his main opponent in the US election. Tuesday. Newsom and Elder have been fighting for Covid for weeks, Newsom pledging to keep its strict rules to fight the pandemic, while Elder vows to reverse many of the Democrat’s orders in the event of becoming governor.

Biden, who is scheduled to campaign for Newsom next week, on Thursday announced a six-line plan to combat the pandemic, imposing strict new vaccination rules on federal workers, large employers and health care workers. The requirements, which could apply to up to 100 million Americans, sparked a quick stir from Republican governors and the Republican National Committee, both of which have said they intend to sue the administration for the new measures.

“It absolutely would be,” he told CNN during a campaign stop in Temecula.

“I’m not vaccinated; I think vaccines work. I’ve been vaccinated because of my age, because of the underlying comorbidities. And I encourage people to get vaccinated,” he said. “But a lot of people feel very different. A lot of people think the vaccine was approved too quickly. Other people have already gotten the coronavirus and they have immunities, so they don’t think they need it.”

Newsom said Biden’s announcement was “deeply consistent,” in part because of the contrast it provided between him and Elder.

“There can be no more contrast and more consequences with these elections to have a governor on the other side of this vote that would unite, that would unite with the other Republican governors and back down against the life-saving interventions to make in the face of this pandemic, to eliminate the wearing of masks in our public schools, putting our children at risk and their educational risk, ”Newsom said. “I think the president expressed a frustration that many of us have.”

Newsom’s comments came after he voted against the withdrawal in Sacramento. The governor took very little time to vote and told reporters that he then answered only the first question of the vote, which asks voters to choose “yes” or “no” when reminded. The second question, on the opposite side of the ballot, asks voters to choose from a list of more than 40 substitute candidates. But that second question, which Newsom has urged voters to skip, only counts if most people vote “yes” on the first question. However, if a majority votes to remember him, his replacement may be selected by mere plurality, increasing the chance that Elder may win by a fraction of the votes.

“Look, I’m so disappointed that particularly some Republican governors have been so gentlemanly with the health of these children, so gentlemanly with the health of their communities,” Biden said. “We’re really playing here. This isn’t a game and I don’t know any scientist in this field who doesn’t think it makes considerable sense to do the six things I’ve suggested.”

The irony of the reminder is that while Newsom’s aggressive actions to curb the pandemic fueled the effort to oust it, there are new fears about the delta variant that extends that could keep the governor in his job . Polls in July and August showed a tough run for Newsom, and Democrats were publicly concerned that the governor of the largest democratic state could be ousted. But the rise of the Delta variant, along with Elder becoming Newsom’s clearest opponent, helped focus the governor’s campaign, and the Democrat has presented much of his final presentation to voters about the coronavirus. and his differences with Elder in the matter.

“You’ve seen the Covid cliff that these people have fallen into. I hope you see where we are in the state of California,” Newsom told Fresno on Thursday, referring to floods affecting states like Florida. “All of this is in jeopardy if we don’t vote ‘no’ … The consequences couldn’t be more pronounced, or more acute. It’s about life and death.”