New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy urges people to do the right thing as coronavirus cases continue to surge.
He seems to have echoed the plea of most state leaders: "We’re just pleading with people to do the right thing” as the Covid-19 pandemic infects and kills more people than ever before.
“We’ve got the holidays before us, and we are pleading with people to not let their guard down, to stay strong,” the New Jersey governor told “The News with Shepard Smith.” “This virus is dying for us, literally, to let our guard down. We’ve got to do everything we can to push back at that.”
In New Jersey, over 2,400 Covid-19 patients are in the hospital, with a positivity rate of 9.4%. Gov. Murphy told host Shepard Smith that they limited indoor gathering to only 10 people at most and while outdoor gatherings can have 150 people. New Jersey has also ordered the closure of indoor service of bars and restaurants from 10 PM to 5 AM.
“We’ve upped our compliance, but there’s no amount of compliance enforcement, no amount of law enforcement that can get inside of everybody’s living rooms,” Murphy said.
According to Gov. Murphy, the new vaccine developments are safe and effective, but he did stress that the Garden State will implement own separate process to approve any coroanvirus vaccine.
“We’ll put our ‘Good Housekeeping’ seal of approval on it, if we don’t then that means we don’t think it will be safe and workable,” Murphy said. “I have to tell you right now, I strongly believe it will be.”
A public good
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Covid vaccines must be “a global, public good” and warns it is not a “silver bullet.”
“I firmly believe that there is more hope ahead of us than despair behind us,” Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said in an online broadcast. He stressed that vaccines would not be a “silver bullet” as access to treatment would not be wide right away.
While news on the development of Covid vaccines is welcome, it has to reach people worldwide, he said.
His statements follow the clinical trial data from pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Moderna, suggesting that their respective experimental vaccines are safe and highly effective at combatting Covid-19.
However, Kluge warned that “any Covid vaccine should be a global, public good” with equal access for all.
“In the last few days, we have received good news with two, particularly promising vaccines. However, this promise will never be realized unless we ensure that all countries have access to the vaccine market, that it is delivered equitably, that it is effectively deployed and that countries address pockets of vaccine hesitancy,” he said.
He believes that the distribution of Covid vaccines should prioritize health and social care as well as people with health conditions that make them vulnerable to the virus. He also urges the public to continuously observe health measures like mask-wearing and social distancing.
