MDP WIRE: Baker’s COVID response has been a complete disaster.

Baker’s COVID Response Has Been a Complete Disaster

The Baker-Polito vaccine rollout has been sluggish and inconsistent, with local officials begging for more urgency, guidance, and support as Massachusetts falls further behind.

Governor Baker’s vaccine rollout has been slow and disjointed, and it’s dangerous. This week, Baker’s rollout received an ‘F’ in a report from Harvard.
- Massachusetts lags behind every other New England state, ranking close to last in the country in administering the doses allotted to the Commonwealth.
- The Baker administration has left local leaders in the dark about the vaccination plan, and health officials are flagging a lack of communication.
- Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark, Congressman Moulton, and Senate President Spilka called for an overhaul of the process.
- State legislators are calling on Baker to expand vaccination options west of Worcester beyond the single site that exists now.
- Lawmakers in central Massachusetts have joined the chorus of voices sounding the alarm on the vaccine rollout.
- Because of Baker’s sluggish rollout, over 1,200 doses of the vaccine--that we know of--have gone to waste in Massachusetts.
Baker’s vaccine website is needlessly confusing and difficult to use, leaving many folks 75+ with no way to secure a vaccine appointment.
- Attorney General Maura Healey blasted the website as “way more complicated than it needs to be.”
- State legislators demanded that the Baker administration set up a hotline for folks unable to use the complicated website.
The communities hit hardest by the virus, Black, brown, and immigrant communities, are being left behind by the Baker administration, and some have to drive hours just to get vaccinated.
- The Baker-Polito administration held back COVID data by municipality, delaying the revelation that communities of color were being disproportionately affected by the virus.
- Baker and his administration are failing to collect required data on race, ethnicity, language, occupation, and disability status of people who test positive for coronavirus.
- Congresswoman Ayanna Pressely sent a letter to Baker imploring him to address the stark inequities in his vaccine distribution plan.
- Black and brown communities like Chelsea, one of the hardest hit by COVID, report higher rates of asthma. But with vaccinations already lagging in communities of color, Baker left the respiratory condition off the eligibility list for Phase 2.
- While the Baker administration is failing to address these inequities, mortality rates among Black and Latino workers in Massachusetts were four times higher than white workers in the first 5 months of the pandemic.
Throughout the pandemic, Democrats have pressured Baker to act with more urgency, but he drags his feet every step of the way.
- As early in the pandemic as March, Baker’s disastrous testing plan prompted Attorney General Maura Healey to pressure him to increase testing and provide greater transparency.
- Democrats like State Senator Julian Cyr and State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa called on Baker to provide more resources in ‘testing deserts’ on Cape Cod and in Western Massachusetts.
- Springfield’s City Councilors called on the Governor to increase testing to meet the demand in Western Mass.
- Democratic elected officials in south eastern Massachusetts are taking things into their own hands to provide tests for their constituents.
- Local officials begged Baker to take statewide action to stop the spread of COVID, but he ignored those calls and municipal leaders were left to hold the line against the virus.
- Even after local leaders and health experts pressured Baker to respond to the rising number of cases, Baker only took modest steps before the second surge.
Baker’s disastrous vaccine rollout isn’t Baker’s first management failure. From the RMV, to the State Police, to the MBTA, Baker has mismanaged Massachusetts again and again.

The Second Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump and Republicans in Disarray

As the Senate begins the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, Republicans in Washington and in Massachusetts are acquiescing to extremists in their own party.

The Senate trial for Donald Trump’s second impeachment began this week and Trump must be held accountable for inciting an insurrection to overturn the will of the people.
- Massachusetts members of Congress did their duty to defend and protect our Constitution, and our Senators know that attacks on our democratic process do not disappear when a term ends.
Leading up to the trial, Republicans have been in total disarray and they’re out of touch with the American people.
- The majority of Americans want the Senate to convict.
- The GOP lost the White House, the House, and the Senate, yet Republicans in Washington and in Massachusetts still don’t have the backbone to stand up to the extremists in their own Party.
Even after the insurrection and impeachment, the MassGOP continues to be Trump’s mouthpiece in Massachusetts.
- Some Republican activists actually participated in the attack on the Capitol, while others are doubling down on their defense of trump.
Charlie Baker has gone along with it. He refuses to hold his own Party accountable for the damage they’ve caused.
- Governor Baker called the Black Lives Matter protests and the Capitol insurrection “the same thing”--a message right out of the GOP playbook. This isn’t any different than Trump saying there were “very fine people on both sides” of the white supremacist march on Charlottesville.
- In 2016 and in 2020, Governor Baker blanked his ballot because he “wasn’t pleased with either choice.” Even after the insurrection at the Capitol, he defends this decision.

President Biden Gets to Work for the American People

Following his inauguration, President Biden wasted no time getting to work for the American people. President Biden has signed dozens of executive actions and unveiled the American Rescue plan to get real relief to working folks.

In the first few weeks of his presidency, President Biden has already released a national COVID-19 strategy and signed dozens of executive actions, including:
- Establishing a 100 day masking challenge and implementing a mask mandate on federal property: Setting the example that it is our patriotic duty to wear masks as we fight together against the pandemic.
- Rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement: Making clear that the United States will lead the world in the fight against climate change.
- Rejoining the World Health Organization: Bringing the United States back onto the global health stage; the virus knows no national boundaries, and the United States will work with allies and partners to end the pandemic.
- Pausing federal student loan payments: Providing relief to Americans who are struggling because of the economic recession caused by the pandemic.
- Dissolving the 1776 commission and launching a government-wide initiative directing agencies to review their state of racial equity and determine an action plan to address inequities within 200 days.
President Biden’s American Rescue Plan is an ambitious plan that will deliver direct relief to working families, support small businesses, and provide funding for vaccines, testing, and schools.
- The American Rescue Plan will also deliver desperately needed help to communities across every state — communities that are hurting because of budget shortfalls created by the pandemic.
- President Biden is open to exchanging ideas about the American Rescue Plan, but is uncompromising when it comes to the speed needed to address these immense crises.
- An overwhelming majority of Americans support President Biden’s coronavirus relief agenda, including strong bipartisan support.
The Trump administration botched its vaccine rollout, but President Biden is delivering for the American people and continues to ramp up vaccine production and distribution.
- Over the weekend, the U.S. administered more than 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccine each day, bringing the national average to nearly 1.5 million doses per day.
- The Biden administration is also deploying more than 1,000 active-duty troops to assist state vaccination efforts.
- President Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act to maximize production of vaccines and other critical supplies.