No, Mr. President, the COVID-19 pandemic isn't over – even if your administration is over it

It has been a few days since President Joe Biden infamously said during a primetime interview, "The pandemic is over."

Amid pervasive news of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and a devastating hurricane hitting Puerto Rico, Biden's statement has still been national news, with outraged doctors and health officials pushing back like never before during this administration.

To be fair, the president said COVID-19 is still "a problem." Even so, he pointed to a lack of mask wearing and doubled down a second time, saying, "But the pandemic is over."

The next day, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was in far from walk-back mode. "The president is right," he said firmly.

I was shocked. Not by the words – we’ve heard them before – but by the people saying them.

Pandemic is 'over'? Then Biden should follow through and end national 'emergency'

What happened to follow the science?

This is an administration that ran and won on the promise that they wouldn't wave a white flag. They said they'd protect the vulnerable and marginalized and follow the science. Yet it seems they've determined none of this is doable or politically practical.

Infection rates are similar now to what they were two years ago. The pandemic wasn't over then, and it's not over now.

My concern goes beyond politics. Statements like these, from people like these, are hurtful and harmful and just plain wrong.

More than a million people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, most of them during the current administration's tenure. More than 350 people – enough to fill most seats in a typical Boeing 747 jet – are dying each day. Many more have long COVID symptoms, jeopardizing our workforce and the economic recovery the president so badly wants.

For a president who ran on his compassion, it’s a slap in the face to these people and their families to declare the pandemic over, especially while still requiring strangers around him to be vaccinated, and/or mask and test.

We need paid family leave: Why must we pick between paychecks and caring for loved ones?

Politics pushing compassion aside

The previous president was elected on a promise to build walls, drain the swamp and prioritize the economy over all else. But Biden was elected to be the exact opposite. So many from vulnerable communities are emotionally devastated to see that politics have pushed this promise of compassion to the side.

Yet it's not just emotional harm that’s an issue.

Real public health and political harm comes from the president’s declaration. Transmission rates remain high or substantial in more than 90% of the country, and such statements set a national tone that becomes even more antagonistic to places that determine some mitigation is still warranted.

The majority of the country is still not up to date on their vaccinations, and the president's comments undermine efforts to get more people vaccinated and boosted. Legislators are already using the president’s words as proof that all remaining vaccine mandates need to be abolished, and you can rest assured the courts will consider such statements during any judicial challenges.

Enough backdoor policymaking: It's time to end the COVID public health emergency

Then there’s the matter of extending the public health emergency (and authorities requiring data reporting, allowing telehealth and more). How does one justify calling something that’s "over" an "emergency"? I also can't imagine a more damaging shot in one's own foot than calling on Congress to urgently fund the pandemic response then declaring the pandemic over.

Most striking to me about the president’s statement, however, as well as Becerra's endorsement of it, is that according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and every other public health organization, it’s clearly and easily shown to be false.

Signs of cruelty either way

A pandemic declaration is predicated on global spread of an epidemic. The CDC says an "epidemic" refers to "an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in that area."

Therefore, only one of two things can be true here: Either the pandemic isn’t over, or the president and the HHS secretary are attempting to reset the baseline for "normal" at 350 largely preventable deaths each day. 

It becomes more and more difficult to have rational conversations about COVID policy trade-offs if those in charge of our national response ignore or try to change basic science terminology to suit their preferred framing. Yet the coronavirus doesn’t care about how we frame the pandemic. It just wants to infect, impair and kill, and it will keep doing so until we actually take measures to suppress it.

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The president could have said, "We've never been in a better place to reopen society, if we optimize the use of our available tools." That statement would be true and hopeful, and it would serve as a pat on the back to administration efforts.

But saying the pandemic is over is either a cruel lie or evidence of cruel intention.

Acknowledging the pandemic isn’t over isn't a show of weakness, and it doesn’t have to be a political liability. We can celebrate progress and use that progress to call for even greater efforts to increase access to boosters, testing, treatments and better ventilation, and expand research on long COVID-19 and more durable vaccines.

In the long run, our political and economic fortunes are better served by acknowledging that, while we may be over the pandemic, the pandemic still isn’t over.

More from the former surgeon general:

Back to school: It's time for you to talk about monkeypox

Our mental health crisis is getting worse. New 988 suicide hotline can be our fresh start.

5 lessons from COVID we must learn after losing 1 million people in America

Dr. Jerome Adams, a former U.S. surgeon general, is a distinguished professor and executive director of health equity initiatives at Purdue University and a member of the USA TODAY Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter: @JeromeAdamsMD

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden says COVID pandemic is over. He's just plain wrong.