Whitmer’s Top Health Official Vacations Out-of-State As Michigan Leads Nation in New COVID-19 Cases
rules for thee, but not for me
GULF SHORES, ALABAMA—Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s top health official—charged with directing the state’s COVID-19 response—spent Spring Break in Gulf Shores, Alabama, as Michigan leads the nation in new COVID-19 cases with a record number of children hospitalized.
Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Director, Elizabeth Hertel, who was recently appointed to the position following the controversial exit of Robert Gordon, traveled to Gulf Shores, Alabama with her immediate family, according to MIRS News.
News of Hertel’s vacation comes just days after another top Whitmer aid, responsible for the state’s vaccine distribution, vacationed to Florida last week. Tricia Foster not only made the trip to Florida and posted about it on Facebook, but she inadvertently revealed thata family member contracted COVID-19 yet she still got an airplane with family and friends, putting other people at risk.
“The sheer brazenness of Gov. Whitmer and her staff is truly something else,” said Ted Goodman, Communications Director of the Michigan Republican Party. “The fact that Whitmer and her top staff think it’s appropriate to travel out of state on vacation as Michigan faces the worst COVID numbers of any state in the country just reveals the arrogance and condescending nature of this administration. Whitmer’s position on the draconian lockdown orders is simple—rules for thee, but not for me.”
Before traveling south to Alabama and Florida for a relaxing getaway under the sun, Hertel and Foster forgot to request 360,000 vaccinations available from the federal government for the state of Michigan.
The Washington Post revealed that the Whitmer administration failed to request 360,000 vaccinations available to the state, something the Biden Administration brought to Whitmer’s attention.
Hertel and Foster have remained silent on revelations of the vacations, indicating the intention to keep it a secret. It is completely unacceptable, and the people of Michigan deserve answers. How did the vacation travel of top staffers impact the Whitmer Administration’s failure to secure over 360,000 vaccines that were originally meant for the state?