Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issues broad COVID-19 order that touts ‘personal responsibility,’ not edicts

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AUSTIN – Amid rising Delta COVID-19 cases in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott issued a sweeping ordinance Thursday that doubles his mantra of personal responsibility.

The order essentially prohibits any future government or public school system requirements in masking.

It dismantles a fail-safe mechanism that Abbott developed when he lifted a nationwide mask mandate in early March: District judges will no longer be able to impose their own coronavirus restrictions, rising above 15% in their region for seven days in a row.

The new regulation also bans vaccine requests from governments or entities that receive public funding. It states that private companies that are currently or in the future expecting public funding through grants, contracts, loans or other disbursements cannot require their customers to demonstrate that they are “as a condition for receiving a service or entering a place” have been vaccinated.

Abbott, who was attacked by two Republican challengers in next year’s elections for exceeding his powers during the coronavirus pandemic, said it was merely providing “consistency in Texas’ s COVID response.”

“We have to rely on personal responsibility, not government mandates,” tweeted the two-time GOP governor. “Texans will decide for themselves whether to wear masks and open stores. Vaccines are the best defense and will always be voluntary. “

Abbott issued his order just hours after the Texas Department of State Health Services tweeted Thursday of a terrifying spike in COVID-19 infections and ailments: “In a week, hospital admissions are up 1,726, the 7-day average . the number of confirmed cases is nearly doubling, and the death toll is now increasing. Get FULLY vaccinated as soon as possible. “

Abbott’s order was also followed shortly after President Joe Biden announced Thursday that all civil federal employees must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or forced to undergo regular tests, social distancing, masking and travel restrictions.

The Biden administration also urged states, territories, and local governments to pay $ 100 to Americans not vaccinated against the coronavirus to get their vaccinations. The president also directed the Department of Defense to investigate how and when members of the military should receive the shots.

Abbott spokesmen did not respond to a question about whether Biden’s announcements were in part a nudge to his own.

I made an executive order standardizing Texas’s COVID response – we have to rely on personal responsibility, not government mandates.

Texans will decide for themselves whether to wear masks and open stores.

Vaccines are the best defense and always will be voluntary. pic.twitter.com/3lIOt5BYZ0

– Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 29, 2021

Abbott’s newfound aggressiveness in combating vaccine requests and mask orders contrasts with Biden’s new use of coercion. The Democratic President has decided to encourage faster and faster vaccination of more and more vaccine-reluctant Americans in hopes of preventing the fast-spreading Delta variant from curtailing recent store openings and economic gains.

In contrast, Abbott, who is said to have its own presidential ambitions for 2024, is getting sharper day by day in its attacks on Biden’s policies on the U.S.-Mexico border, the economy, and the coronavirus pandemic. On the latter, the governor has loudly joined protests by his 2022 GOP antagonists, Don Huffines and Allen West, against intrusive government requirements for face-covering and vaccine use, with no hint of regret or defensive.

“Texans have mastered the safe practices that will help prevent and avoid the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said in a written statement.

“They have the individual right and responsibility to decide for themselves and their children whether they wear masks, open their shops and pursue leisure activities. Vaccines, which are still abundant, are the most powerful defense against the virus, and they will always remain voluntary – never enforced – in the state of Texas.

Rep. Donna Howard, a Democrat from Austin and a retired nurse, said Abbott’s action, while “in line with the form,” will unnecessarily hinder local officials’ efforts to keep residents safe.

“This goes beyond inaction – this is the governor tying the hands of health professionals trying to keep Texans healthy as cases and hospital stays increase,” Howard said in a written statement. Finding vaccines for children not yet available, she complained that Abbott is lifting mitigation measures from school districts just weeks before school starts.

Governor Abbott’s obstructionism will result in more deaths and further disruption to Texas’ schools and economies.

Read my full statement here: pic.twitter.com/ZM3WuofFSG

– Erin Zwiener (@ErinForYall) July 29, 2021

At Abbott’s orders, state and government-run acute care hospitals and government-supported residential centers for the mentally and developmentally disabled may still require masks. But they cannot force the vaccination. Prisons, juvenile prisons, and city and county prisons “may continue to apply appropriate guidelines for wearing face-coverings.”

The order also suspends a provision of the state Health and Safety Code that allows state and local health authorities to require individuals to disclose their vaccination status and “take appropriate action during quarantine to protect that person and the public from communicable disease to protect”.

State authorities and municipalities cannot do anything that defines access to a place or the receipt of a service on the “vaccination status of a person for a COVID-19 vaccine administered as part of an emergency permit,” says the implementing regulation.

When highlighting the emergency approval, Abbott was referring to the US Food and Drug Administration’s preliminary approval of vaccines by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson / Janssen months ago. It was based on large clinical trials, but final FDA approval is still pending.

Abbott’s State Health Commissioner, Dr. John Hellerstedt, however, did not praise the three COVID-19 vaccines available on Thursday.

“Simply put, the vaccines work,” Hellerstedt said in a video he tweeted.

“In the past few weeks, however, we’ve been seeing a sharp spike in the spread of COVID-19 across Texas. More contagious variants, especially the Delta variant, are spreading quickly. “

Dallas-Fort Worth is no exception.

Given current vaccination rates and public behavior in North Texas, there could be more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases per day in Dallas County by August 16, and Tarrant County could be around by then, according to the latest forecasts from UT Southwestern Medical Center 1,500 more occur per day model with data as of July 26th.

The previous UTSW model, using July 19 data, predicted that Dallas County would experience about 600 new coronavirus infections daily through August 9.

In a week, hospital admissions rise 1,726, the 7-day average. the number of confirmed cases has nearly doubled, and the number of deaths is now increasing. Get the FULLY vaccinated as soon as possible. # COVID19TX update:
⬆️5,267 new confirmed cases (7-day average)
⬆️34 deaths reported (7-day average)
⬆️5,292 current hospital stays pic.twitter.com/JGoFkTyrhZ

– Texas DSHS (@TexasDSHS) July 28, 2021

Clay Jenkins, a Dallas County judge, a Democrat who has been embroiled in pandemic action with the governor since March 2020, said Thursday he was not surprised by Abbott’s order. Jenkins urged North Texans to listen to guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that masks and vaccines are essential to stop the spread of the disease.

“His actions were completely polled,” said Jenkins. “The governor is not focusing on listening to what the local doctors in Texas are saying.”

Since Abbott’s previous orders to limit the county’s actions to contain the spread of the disease, Jenkins said his focus has been on working with schools and businesses to put their own restrictions in place, rather than mandating them through a state order. He said that won’t change.

“The biggest impact of what is happening today is the governor’s testimony, which is demoralizing for schools and hospitals,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins said the ban on vaccine requirements in hospitals “should be a problem for anyone who goes to hospital for any reason” and that an outbreak could mean another end to face-to-face teaching if children and teachers in schools don’t wear masks.

“We need to listen to the people trained to advise us and their primary concern and focus is on our safety, the safety of our children, not their own interests,” said Jenkins, reiterating that Abbott’s move was first and foremost was political and not in the interests of health care. “You could watch Fox News for an hour every night and know what he’s going to do.”

Abbott spokesmen also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Jenkins’ remarks.

The authors Charlie Scudder and Praveena Somasundaram in Dallas contributed to this report.

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