By editorial staff
As COVID surges again with hospitalizations up and test sites overrun, residents see distinct leadership differences in area municipalities.
In Plymouth, the Mayor’s Office took to Facebook and posted a flyer advising residents of free vaccination clinics, the location, and when they are open.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart produced three videos on December 29,30, and 31. Each production ran over six minutes and provided test kit updates while answering questions in real-time and reminding viewers to wear masks and get vaccinated. Stewart made news with her video on the 31st when she announced New Britain would receive 100,000 N95 masks. On the 30th she made the video after putting her baby to bed.
Meanwhile, in Bristol, Mayor Jeff Caggiano, who was on vacation at an undisclosed location, produced two videos that each ran around two minutes in length. Caggiano advised residents that the free test kits were delayed. He added that people not feeling well should stay home and quarantine, while anyone who needs masks could contact the Bristol Burlington Health Department.
For those looking for Caggiano to come out strongly and urge residents to wear masks and get vaccinated, you will be disappointed. He made that clear during November’s mayoral debate. Then candidate Caggiano said he believed that mandating people to wear masks is a suppression of individual freedom, and that natural immunity is superior to vaccines.
In answering a question about vaccines and masks during the Chamber of Commerce debate, Caggiano stated, “My background with an immune-based company has taught me an awful lot about this virus. And I do believe that the government at all levels overstepped their bounds, and I think we need to be open and honest with people. I will be honest with you. The reason you’re wearing masks tonight is because the governor put a mask mandate in for schools. This has nothing to do necessarily with the chamber, and I, by the way, applaud the chamber if that’s what they want to do. But at this point in the pandemic, people need to have a choice. One of the things we learned from our company is that natural immunity is even more protective than vaccinated immunity. We don’t want to hold people back and mandate, and people that think they’re smarter than us is not what the people of Bristol want.”
What Caggiano failed to point out is that many people never got a chance to develop natural immunity, because sadly, as of the beginning of 2022, over 847,000 people have died from the virus since its inception. Those victims couldn’t count on natural immunity because they were dead before they could develop it. And whether his comment of “people that think they are smarter than us” was aimed at all the scientists and medical professionals who advocated masks, vaccinations, social distancing and quarantining, or rather was a snarky swipe at his opponent in the election, it is probably safe to say the doctors and scientists were correct.
As mentioned above, even the Central Connecticut hero of Bristol Republicans, Erin Stewart, has urged masking and vaccinations in seeming defiance of our own Mayor’s beliefs. So while Bristol residents are left to their own devices to keep their families safe, in other towns, the government is stepping up to meet the crisis head on.