He Should’ve Listened to Dr. Fauci
A state senator from Washington who opposed COVID vaccine mandates has appealed to his fellow GOP lawmakers to send monoclonal treatment to El Salvador where he tested positive for the disease.
The Republican Doug Ericksen, who represents the 42nd District in Whatcom County, has opposed the pandemic mitigation measures of Governor Jay Inslee and has sponsored legislation to protect those who have not been vaccinated.
In an email to Washington House and Senate Republican lawmakers, Ericksen said he had tested positive shortly after arrival in the central American country and added, “I cannot get back home,” the Seattle Times reported.
In his message to legislators, Ericksen said his condition was “to the point that I feel it would be beneficial for me to receive an IV of monoclonal antibodies (Regeneron). I have a doctor here who can administer the IV, but the product is not available here.”
“Do any of you have any ideas on how I could get the monoclonal antibodies sent to me here,” Ericksen continued. “Ideally, I would like to get it on a flight tonight so it would be here by tomorrow.”
Because of pandemic-related travel restrictions, Ericksen likely would be unable to take a commercial flight out of El Salvador after testing positive for COVID-19.
Ericksen told KIRO radio he was “fighting a bad bout” with the virus while in the Central American country.
A fierce critic of Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency pandemic orders — including the recent vaccine mandates — Ericksen this year sponsored legislation to protect the rights of people who won’t get vaccinated.
“Never have we witnessed a failure of leadership in this state as we have seen under Gov. Jay Inslee,” Ericksen said in a statement at the time. “For nearly 600 days, he has used COVID emergency powers to establish autocratic rule, refusing to call the Legislature into special session, and shutting the people out.”
✱ It’s not clear what Ericksen is doing in El Salvador.
✱Under Governor Inslee, Washington State has the sixth fewest COVID cases per capita after Hawaii, Vermont, Maine, Oregon, and Maryland. Worldometers
✱Whatcom County voted for Biden in 2020.
