What I Would've Done on Vaccines Had I'd Been Biden

France instituted a vaccine mandate and, lo and behold, 80 percent of their population 12 and over are fully vaccinated.

Guess what? The United States isn't France. If it were, we'd have a European-style healthcare system that protects each and every citizen in the country instead of what we currently have.

Look, do I think President Biden was right to institute a vaccine mandate? Yes, I do. If anything, he was a little slow out of the gate. It was obvious by July that the "persuasion" route wasn't working. Like that dumb-ass Kraft commercial where the parents have to resort to bribing their kids with macaroni and cheese just to get them to eat their vegetables, the powers that be soon found out that the kids they were dealing with didn't much care for mac and cheese. It was time for plan B: a timeout in the bedroom with no TV and no internet.

But here's the thing: while almost 45 percent of the country is behaving like spoiled brats who desperately need a timeout, practically speaking, you can't lock them in their rooms. Here's why.

Take the federal mandate. It doesn't go into effect for 75 days. That's right around Thanksgiving, the time most federal workers start using up their annual vacation. Even if you were to start enforcement on day 76, it would take weeks, if not months, for employees who resist getting vaccinated to be terminated. What good is a vaccine mandate if you have to wait six months for it to work?

Then there's the OSHA mandate. Let's assume for the moment that Biden's executive order requiring all private companies with 100 employees or more to be fully vaccinated holds up in court - and with six conservatives on the Supreme Court that's a big if - like the federal mandate, enforcement is going to be problematic.

First off, it allows for a fallback - a negative Covid test once a week. So, theoretically, a worker could test negative on Monday, yet still contract the virus later on in the week, ostensibly rendering the entire procedure useless. Secondly, a plurality of businesses in the country have fewer than 100 employees: restaurants, hardware stores, delicatessens. These businesses have become the lifeblood of the American economy and are, not coincidentally, on the frontline when it comes to transmission of the virus. Not including them in the mandate was a tactical error that will cost lives.

So no, I would never have gone the mandate route. The court challenges and the bureaucratic red tape alone could delay implementation for months. And any solution which takes that long to fully implement is no solution at all.

So what would I have done?

I would've done exactly what the NFL did. If you recall, that league, rather than institute a vaccine mandate for its players, simply said that if an outbreak were to occur that forces a game to be postponed, the team responsible for the postponement would forfeit the game if it couldn't be rescheduled, along with the salary. Almost immediately after that announcement, players who had been vaccine hesitant, started getting vaccinated. As of week one of the NFL season, more than 93 percent of the players - up from 89 percent at the end of July - and 99 percent of team personnel are fully vaccinated. Even among millionaires, nothing motivates more than the fear of losing money.

With that in mind, I would summon the heads of every insurance company that underwrites health insurance policies and, under the federal emergency powers granted to the president, I would order them to implement a new procedure. Anyone not at least partially vaccinated by the end of September who catches Covid-19 will NOT be covered. Period. Whether your symptoms are mild or you wind up on a ventilator, you're responsible for the entire tab. I spent three days in a hospital after an operation and that bill came to over $150,000; most of it paid by Blue Cross. Imagine what would've happened if I had to pay the entire bill out of my own pocket. The cost of a two-to-three week stint hooked up to a ventilator could easily run into the millions. Unless you're Bill Gates or The Former Guy, you probably don't have that kind of money just lying around.

Some people will still resist. Sadly, there are those who insist on flying without a net. But I guarantee you a lot of people will think long and hard before risking bankruptcy. Trust me, they may scream bloody hell, but in the end, most will roll up their sleeves and get the vaccine. For those who require some additional incentive...

I would also summon the heads of every U.S. airline: Delta, United, American, SouthWest, Jet Blue, all of them. And under the same federal emergency powers, I would order them to require all ticket holders to show proof of vaccination before they board an airplane. That goes for the flight crew, as well. The only exceptions would be for medical reasons and must be in writing. My crazy uncle said it was dangerous, isn't going to cut it.

With respect to nursing homes, the Administration was correct when it threatened to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funding to any facility that didn't require its staff to be full vaccinated. Now they have expanded that to include any healthcare provider that receives Medicare and Medicaid funding. In other words, virtually every hospital, clinic and doctor's office in the country. Good move and not challengeable.

It's simple. Don't wanna lose your home? Get vaccinated. Wanna visit grandma and grandpa over the holidays? Get vaccinated. Wanna still be a nurse? Get vaccinated. No mandates, no lengthy court battles. Greg Abbott with no Costello and Ron DeathSantis can huff and puff all they want; screw 'em!

Of the ten states with the fewest available ICU beds, nine are in the South, where the lowest vaccination rates are. The other day, a heart patient died waiting for an ICU bed in Alabama. This is insane; this is criminal. That this is happening in America is inexcusable.

Something has to be done. The carrot didn't work; maybe the stick will. Those of us who have done everything we were asked to do are exhausted; and we're fed up, as well. We are literally being held hostage by a bunch of idiots who are living in The Twilight Zone. Well, it's time to change the channel. 

This isn't about your fucking freedoms; it's about our survival as a nation.