One-year marker underscores president’s lack of strategic plan, absence of leadership Los Angeles, CA – America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) today released a statement following President Joe Biden’s primetime address to the nation on the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic: “It didn’t have to be this way. In his address to the nation this evening, President Biden stressed unity in the face of threats and science over fear. Unfortunately, Biden’s COVID-related policies during his first 50 days in office have been disastrous. At every point in this pandemic, the president has failed to ‘follow the science,’ instead allowing special interests to dictate politicized public health – whether it means keeping schools closed to satisfy powerful teachers unions, or nodding in the direction of a mandatory ‘vaccine passport’ for all domestic flights. The pandemic has also been used as an excuse to expand the reach of the federal government further into our lives as well as burden future generations with punishing debt. Biden’s direct and indirect support for general lockdowns and universal masking have likewise done more harm than good. We can measure their cost in lives and livelihoods lost. “It is past time for President Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the rest of this administration to acknowledge basic constitutional precepts such as freedom of assembly and movement, and get our country back on track. At no point in his remarks tonight did Biden admit what front-line physicians like those who work with AFLDS have understood for months: COVID has a survival rate of at least 98%, and those at severe risk of infection and hospitalization, the frail elderly and immune-suppressed, can be protected using careful mitigation methods the nation’s doctors have acquired through direct patient experience. We also know that expanding early treatment options for those at a reduced risk level is the correct thing to do, in keeping with the available scientific evidence. “Finally, much about America’s experimental vaccine platforms remains unknown. Although Americans who want one should have access to the immunization of their choice, AFLDS strongly opposes mandating a biological agent still in its ‘investigational’ stage. No one should be pressured or coerced to take one, especially as a condition of employment. If President Biden is unwilling or unable to trust Americans to manage their own healthcare decisions, perhaps he should choose to preside over some other country, one unencumbered by our rich tradition of self-government, independent scientific inquiry, and personal freedom.”