Shirkey says Whitmer still leading through fear, touts false claims on 'natural immunity'

Detroit Free Press - 1/26/2022

Michigan's highest ranking elected Republican called on state leaders to inform and trust citizens to make smart decisions during the pandemic, while also inaccurately touting the benefits of so-called "natural immunity" over those who received the COVID-19 vaccines.

The comments from state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, Wednesday afternoon appeared to reiterate that neither the Legislature nor Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appear interested in changing course on how the state is fighting COVID-19, despite the ongoing struggle to end the pandemic and reverse the corresponding economic downturn.

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Shirkey also promised Senate Republicans would propose significant tax reductions and move the state away from leadership driven by fear.

The barbs were his latest thrown at Whitmer during the pandemic, offered hours before she delivered her fourth State of the State address.

"It's unfortunate, but the state of our state can best be described as a not so humorous rendition of Groundhog Day. Michiganders feel trapped in an endless treadmill of confusing, conflicting and inconsistent orders and mandates leaving us suffering from economic turmoil, rampant mental health emergencies, empty grocery store shelves and school closures causing children to fall further and further behind," Shirkey said.

"Informing, inspiring and trusting people to make the right decision has been replaced by unilateral and often illogical executive orders based on a common theme of fear."

Whitmer and the state health department have not issued any sweeping health regulations in nearly a year, despite recent COVID-19 trends hitting their worst marks of the pandemic. This decision came after Whitmer defended previous orders — criticized by Shirkey and other Republicans — arguing they were necessary to keep people alive

Yet, since vaccines became widely available, Whitmer and her team have moved away from mandates, like stay home orders and limits on social gatherings. They've pleaded with Michiganders to get vaccinated, wear masks and practice social distancing, but avoided new regulations. Whitmer reiterated in an interview Tuesday that she would continue these recommendations.

Public health experts would contend Shirkey himself has not made the right decision, at least when it comes to getting vaccinated or wearing masks. The senator previously announced he contracted COVID-19 in late 2020; since then, he routinely does not wear masks in indoor settings and has touted the benefits of immunity derived from this infection over protection provided by vaccines.

"Based on the science that I follow, I have protections that those who have been vaccinated can only hope for," Shirkey said Wednesday, while urging those who are "very vulnerable" to consider getting vaccinated.

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The broader scientific and health community agree that while infections may provide some protection, the amount and longevity are unknown. Any immunity from previous infection may not prevent contracting a different variant of COVID-19, either.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins and many other experts recommend everyone who's eligible get vaccinated, even those who previously contracted COVID-19.

While vaccines also may not prevent someone from catching COVID-19, they greatly reduce the severity of symptoms and risk of hospitalization or death, experts say. Michigan health officials have repeatedly noted the vast majority of people in the hospital are unvaccinated or not boosted.

Shirkey said the recent massive spike in cases, hospitalizations and deaths are actually proof that his proposal to trust Michiganders is working. He argued pandemic trends went up and down when orders were in place as well.

"If we had started from the beginning trusting people, I think we'd have taken more stress out of the system, we'd have provided people more opportunities to control their lives better, and I think we'd have had better outcomes," Shirkey said.

Cases, hospitalizations and deaths generally went down after the state enacted sweeping restrictions. In 2021, Shirkey and almost every other Senate Republican voted for a measure that directly tied case rates to business closures. If it were law today, businesses would have been closed for weeks, given drastically high transmission rates.

Educators, business leaders and families continue to grapple with the ramifications of regulations intended to keep everyone healthy. In separate recent interviews, both Shirkey and Whitmer said they agree students should be in person at school.

While Whitmer and Republican leaders came to a compromise in 2020 that allowed local districts to make their own decisions on virtual or in-person lessons, or some hybrid of the two, Shirkey harped on what he sees as the negative impacts of remote learning during his comments Wednesday.

"Kids need to be in school, not in front of computers. Teachers know this, parents know this, kids know this," Shirkey said. "And we will not be deterred by naysayers who feel some government agent should have more say in the needs of their child than that child's parents."

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He did say he anticipates Senate Republicans and Whitmer can find common ground on tax cuts. Whitmer has pledged to roll back the state's pension tax and increase the state's Earned Income Tax Credit.

Shirkey shied away from committing to any specific income tax rate reduction, despite Senate GOP colleagues approving a $2 billion cut in a committee on Wednesday.

"The worst possible thing to do is implement a tax cut and then three years later have to reverse that ... we've got to be careful not to count on one-time money to address whatever difference that makes in revenues coming in," Shirkey said.

Any tax changes will likely be ironed out through the budget process. Whitmer will introduce her budget plan in the coming weeks.

Contact Dave Boucher: dboucher@freepress.com or 313-938-4591. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.