Key Points
- New York is experiencing one of the worst spikes of COVID cases since the pandemic began.
- Health workers have been instructed to “consider race and ethnicity when assessing individual risk.”
- New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared racism a public health crisis.
The Big Apple is experiencing one of the worst spikes of COVID cases since the pandemic began. According to the New York Times, New York State reported more than 85,000 coronavirus cases on the last day of 2021 —a terrible stat to close out the year.
And the cases show no signs of slowing.
While hospitals are doing everything they can to deal with the surge, a controversial new directive from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is creating quite a stir: when it comes to the distribution of life-saving COVID treatments like Paxlovid and Molnupiravir – monoclonal antibodies and oral antivirals – the health workers have been instructed to “consider race and ethnicity when assessing individual risk,” according to a report from the New York Post.
“Longstanding systemic health and social inequities” can contribute to an increased risk of dying from COVID-19 says the DOHMH.
According to the New York Post, this race-based approach is already creating conflicts. “One Staten Island doctor said he filled two prescriptions for Paxlovid…and was asked by the pharmacist to disclose the race of his patients before the treatment was authorized.”
“In my 30 years of being a physician I have never been asked that question when I have prescribed any treatment,” said the doctor. “The mere fact of having to ask this question is a slippery slope.”
The DOHMH says it’s all part of their commitment to “racial equity.”
“The … DOHMH is committed to improving health outcomes for all New Yorkers by explicitly advancing racial equity and social justice. Racial equity does not mean simply treating everyone equally, but rather, allocating resources and services in such a way that explicitly addresses barriers imposed by structural racism (i.e. policies and institutional practices that perpetuate racial inequity) and White privilege,” a statement from the department read.
Inequity? White privilege? Are they suggesting prioritizing life-saving treatments for one race over another? How did saving lives get so politicized?
“It’s just absurd and it shows this is not about public health. This has not been about the health of New Yorkers from the get-go,” Andrew Giuliani, a GOP candidate for governor. told The Post. “Politics before the health and safety of New Yorkers. It continues from the Cuomo administration to the Hochul administration with these new laws.”
Governor Hochul is continuing many of her predecessor’s strict COVID protocols, including indoor mask mandates. But perhaps most dangerous and most divisive is her decision to declare racism a public health crisis. When politicians declare something a “public health crisis,” abuses of power and government overreach are sure to follow.
See COVID lockdowns, vaccine mandates, or HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s treatment of climate as a public health issue.
