To COVID-19, there are no red states, no blue states, just the United States

If you were repulsed by the idea that Gov. Ron DeSantis “won" the pandemic, you might get perverse pleasure from watching his state of Florida continually set records for COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Critics of Gov. Greg Abbott could get smug watching him catch the coronavirus as he wages war against any effort to mandate measures to contain the pandemic across Texas.

And who can do anything but shake a head as the 20,000 students forced to quarantine in Mississippi can’t persuade Gov. Tate Reeves to implement a statewide mask requirement?

But please don’t get cocky. These slow-motion disasters are nothing to savor – and not just because the tens of thousands getting sick aren’t getting an early booster shot. And, as Oregon has already learned, your state could be next.

COVID doesn't care about state politics

To paraphrase Barack Obama, when it comes to COVID-19, there are no red states, no blue states, just the United States.

While DeSantis, Abbott and Reeves have all proved to be allies for the delta variant, their states’ sweltering weather likely deserves some if not most of the credit. 

“The states that, in June, are already using a lot of air conditioning because of high temperatures are also the places where there’s been greater increases in spread of COVID-19, suggesting more time indoors as temperatures rise,” Harvard Medical School professor Edward Nardell said last year. “The same (thing) happens in wintertime, with more time indoors.”

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And this year, we’re facing a virus that’s twice as contagious as the one that killed hundreds of thousands last year. While we have mass vaccinations to protect us this year and nearly eliminate the risk of death, our slowed vaccination rate leaves tens of millions of Americans facing a far worse pandemic than the one that sent us into lockdown March 2020. Just over half the U.S. population is fully vaccinated compared with 61% in the United Kingdom, which began to emerge from its own delta variant wave right about the time, coincidentally, the weather began to warm up and become comfortable outside.

Here in Michigan, we were experiencing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the nation just a few months ago. It took a while for the delta variant to make its mark. But as our weather got stickier, so has our COVID-19 situation. 

More than half of our counties in the state are now seeing high transmission. And the situation is likely to get worse in the months ahead, as our state huddles indoors to enjoy some central heating.

Yet, like most of the nation, we’re carrying on as if we should be reassured by a continued insistence that this is just "a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

You know who’s unvaccinated? Most of our kids.

Still, my state is planning to spend the next few months filling Michigan Stadium with over 100,000 while refusing to implement a statewide mask mandate in our schools. 

The University of Michigan and Michigan State have mandated vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff. But that’s unlikely to get us anywhere near the 70% vaccination rate scientists have suggested could get us into herd immunity.

The delta variant doesn’t care what news channel we watch, which candidates we back or which ones we laugh at. It only cares where it can land just enough droplets.

We need to see the mistakes being made in Florida, Texas and Mississippi not as blunders to mock but as our Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. 

Our past and present are settled. But like Scrooge, we have a chance to pick a new future. And we have to do it for all the Tiny Tims out there.

Unvaccinated aren't all anti-vaxxers

While mask and vaccine mandates are popular and should be embraced wherever possible, they don’t solve the problem with getting Americans vaccinated that doesn’t get nearly enough attention – a lack of resources.

About 75% of the unvaccinated live in a household that earns less $75,000 a year. These aren’t just Tucker Carlson viewers who think Bill Gates is trying to put 5G into their bloodstream – they’re parents or young people terrified of missing work because they’re already worried about putting enough food on the table.

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We need to stop worrying about trying to persuade the unvaccinated and start doing everything possible to make it easier to get vaccinated. This could include paid federal leave and child care for vaccinations as part of the reconciliation budget or shots at food pantries, schools and malls.

Right now, nothing is more important.

The delta variant is no joke – even if certain governors have made it seem like one. And unless we act fast, it’s going to get the last laugh.

Jason Sattler, a writer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a member of Paste BN’s Board of Contributors and host of "The GOTMFV Show" podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @LOLGOP