Barack Obama, the former Democratic President of the United States, is planning to hold a massive birthday party for himself this coming weekend. It will be celebrated at just the same time as the Biden administration has started to ring the alarm about the spread of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Axios News source reported, “Obama is hosting a 60th birthday bash for himself and hundreds of guests on Martha’s Vineyard this coming weekend amid heightened public health concerns — locally and nationally — about the COVID-19 Delta variant.”
They also revealed that “One person with connections to Obamaworld said there were 475 confirmed guests — including friends, family, and former aides — and 200-plus staff planning to work the party.”
This massive gathering will be taking place simultaneously with the White House administration beginning to panic over the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. They are panicking even though the number of deaths has not spiked alongside the increase in cases.
The word on the Obama party is that a “COVID coordinator” is expected to be at the event to handle safety protocols.
The New York Post reported, “The party comes just days after health officials on the tiny island issued a mask advisory even for vaccinated people while in indoor public spaces because of rising cases of the highly contagious Delta variant.”
The post added, “Martha’s Vineyard is also close to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where a spread among vaccinated people over July 4th prompted controversial new mask guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
There is one former ally that will not be in attendance at the Obama party, President Joe Biden. “While President Biden is unable to attend this weekend, he looks forward to catching up with former President Obama soon and properly welcoming him into the over 60 club,” one official said.
Instead, the president is scheduled to travel to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Friday.
Pearl Jam was originally slated to perform at the party, but now they are not planning to attend, according to Axios.
The Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, said over the weekend during a CNN interview that people needed to take more precautions if they hold large parties versus small parties.
Jake Tapper of CNN defended Obama’s plans saying, “If I’m fully vaccinated, and I’m in a room full of other people, all of whom are fully vaccinated, I assume it’s pretty unlikely that any vaccinated individual in that room would, A, have COVID in the first place, and, B, spread it to another fully vaccinated person in that room. That would be two breakthrough infections.”
Tapper asked Collins about the odds of people sharing the virus in a setting like Obama’s party and then he asked, “Can vaccinated Americans be around other vaccinated people without masks?”
“Probably depends on what the total number of people in that crowded space are,” Collins responded. “But you make a really good point. If you’re talking about a small party like I might have at my house for six or eight people who are all fully vaccinated, I do not believe, at this point, we need to put masks on to be next to each other.”
Tapper did finally admit this, “But if there were 100 people — and, of course, how are you really going to be sure about people’s vaccination status? And maybe there’s some immunocompromised people there who, though they’re vaccinated, are not actually fully protected, then the dynamic changes a little bit. There will be some need for common sense there.”
Axios noted, “Obama officials did not say whether guests will be required to wear masks.”
However, it notes that Martha’s Vineyard does not have a “high” or “substantial” level of transmission of the virus
