Bring on the COVID vaccine boosters

Florida’s hospitalizations have exceeded its peak last summer by some 50%, and the Biden Administration has sent it 200 ventilators. But Texas and Florida are hardly alone. The virus has been rampaging through communities across the South that have lower vaccination rates and more underlying health conditions. Delta variant infections are spreading across the country, so expect more hospitalizations in the Northeast and Midwest too.

The political media fight over masks is mostly a phony war. The evidence is that N-95 medical-grade masks can help reduce transmission at the margin, though the costs of masking young children seem higher than the benefits. In any case the Delta variant is still going to spread. The Administration should be working with Messrs. Abbott and DeSantis to increase vaccination rates rather than bicker over mask mandates. The two governors should let private companies impose mask and vaccine mandates if they want, and picking fights with localities over masks seems pointless.