Senator Lanane: “Our state leaders need to step up and do more to encourage unvaccinated folks to get vaccinated…Governor Holcomb has not held a press conference on COVID-19 since March.”
Associated Press: “Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb hasn’t participated in a state COVID-19 news briefing since late March…” (More than 198 days)
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today called on Governor Eric Holcomb to put down his extreme partisanship on COVID-19 and do his job to get Hoosiers vaccinated against the coronavirus ahead of the 2021 holiday season. According to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC), Indiana’s vaccination rate is dead last (about 49-percent fully vaccinated) when compared to surrounding states like Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Governor Holcomb can solve this problem by holding a statewide campaign to get more shots in arms. But, he remains silent and has not formally addressed the state about the pandemic in more than 198 days.
“Our state leaders need to step up and do more to encourage unvaccinated folks to get vaccinated,” said Tim Lanane, State Senator – District 25. “We continue to fall further behind the national vaccination rate, and unfortunately, Governor Holcomb has not held a press conference on COVID-19 since March.”
While the Governor provided glossy lip service last week, the last time Governor Holcomb mentioned COVID-19 vaccines online was September 10 – the day President Joe Biden announced the nation’s updated strategy against COVID. Holcomb criticized the directive. In fact, the Governor hasn’t made a genuine effort to promote COVID-19 vaccines since last April. Further, Indiana Republicans have largely invoked their extreme partisanship on the life-saving shot by refusing to hold a statewide vaccine campaign and by opposing common-sense requirements like for colleges and universities – despite supporting similar legislation in 2017. To put it bluntly: the Indiana Republicans’ partisan opposition to the vaccine is hypocritical, it’s getting more Hoosiers sick, and it’s putting more lives in jeopardy.
Indiana Democrats have used every lever possible to deliver for Hoosier families. Despite universal opposition from Indiana Republicans, U.S. Congressmen André Carson and Frank Mrvan passed the American Rescue Plan, which delivered vaccines in arms and relief for both families and cities and towns across Indiana. The Democrats’ Build Back Better agenda – which also includes the upcoming American Jobs Plan – is approved by a large majority of Americans and Hoosiers.
Indiana’s COVID-19 vaccination pace falls to lowest level
Associated Press // Tom Davies
Indiana’s pace of COVID-19 vaccination shots has fallen to its lowest level since the shots became available last winter.
The state health department’s tracking shows Indiana giving about 6,000 shots a day through last week — about half the rate from early September. The state continues to lag behind the national vaccination rate, and Indiana’s pandemic death toll has topped 16,000 people.
Indiana peaked averaging more than 50,000 shots a day in April as the COVID-19 vaccines became widely available. That declined until early summer when more people began getting the jabs at the same time that health officials blamed the more contagious delta variant for a steep jump in the state’s COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths. […]
Indiana has consistently trailed the national vaccination rates, ranking 14th lowest in the country with 49% of all residents fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national rate stands at 56.4%. […]
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb hasn’t participated in a state COVID-19 news briefing since late March soon after he announced he would let the statewide mask mandate expire even as he has continued renewing the state’s public health emergency that now extends until Oct. 31.
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