The Politics of Covid 19, mask wearing and the vaccination process

[hitbyambulance]

interview with the head of the WHO's health emergencies program:

https://www.statnews.com/2021/02/09/a-q ... ht-return/

Do you believe people will continue to observe precautions? It feels like the whole thrust now is: Give me that vaccine, so I can go back to my spin class. Give me that vaccine so I can go to Cabo San Lucas for spring break.

To an extent that’s true. But people have suffered in terms of jobs, and people have lost the trajectory of their lives in terms of income or education. So there is a natural desire to get back to that.

The thing is convincing them that the fastest way back to that is actually to move from an emergency response to a much more comprehensive control program that will include sustaining personal behaviors into the future.

And that we’re going to have to be extremely wary — you see what Australia is doing — so that every time this virus rears its ugly head that you have the systems in place to go after it.

With all of that, put together with vaccination, we get our civilization back.

But if people think that we can exchange vaccines for personal behavior, and that getting the vaccine is the passport to spin class, I think they’re going to be sorely shocked when we sleepwalk our way back into the next surge, into the next wave, and then into the next lockdowns.

And that’s that will be my biggest fear. The optimist is telling me it can be avoided and the realist is telling me we’re not there yet, psychologically.

'not there yet'...to say the least.....i guess 'normalcy' is just not going to happen.

[Isgrimnur]

I may not set foot in a grocery store more than a handful of times a year for the rest of my life. It's going to suck for new products to try and get in front of people.

[noxiousdog]

According to the NIH (I may have said this before, if so apologies) a 2016 study showed that 40% of medical workers believe that Black people don't need pain medication because of their slave history. Just a great example of how relying on education as a sanitized version of reality is failing us.

If you did, I hadn't seen it. I also didn't see this study you're referring to - that's downright frightening.

Study

Black Americans are systematically undertreated for pain relative to white Americans. We examine whether this racial bias is related to false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites (e.g., “black people’s skin is thicker than white people’s skin”). Study 1 documented these beliefs among white laypersons and revealed that participants who more strongly endorsed false beliefs about biological differences reported lower pain ratings for a black (vs. white) target. Study 2 extended these findings to the medical context and found that half of a sample of white medical students and residents endorsed these beliefs. Moreover, participants who endorsed these beliefs rated the black (vs. white) patient’s pain as lower and made less accurate treatment recommendations. Participants who did not endorse these beliefs rated the black (vs. white) patient’s pain as higher, but showed no bias in treatment recommendations. These findings suggest that individuals with at least some medical training hold and may use false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites to inform medical judgments, which may contribute to racial disparities in pain assessment and treatment.

[Lorini]

According to the NIH (I may have said this before, if so apologies) a 2016 study showed that 40% of medical workers believe that Black people don't need pain medication because of their slave history. Just a great example of how relying on education as a sanitized version of reality is failing us.

If you did, I hadn't seen it. I also didn't see this study you're referring to - that's downright frightening.

What the hell is going on in Massachusetts?

More than 1,200 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have gone to waste in Massachusetts, the state told the WBZ-TV I-Team. As of Friday, 1,096 Moderna doses and 176 Pfizer doses have been reported as wasted, for a total of 1,272 doses.

Here’s the study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843483/

[El Guapo]

What the hell is going on in Massachusetts?

More than 1,200 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have gone to waste in Massachusetts, the state told the WBZ-TV I-Team. As of Friday, 1,096 Moderna doses and 176 Pfizer doses have been reported as wasted, for a total of 1,272 doses.

The vaccine rollout has been poorly managed from the get-go, which is surprising because (a) our governor's strongest suit is management, and (b) we're a biomedical Mecca. Baker has admitted that it's a clown show and is working to fix it, but his popularity (73% as of last week) is poised to take a big hit.

I've been wondering about that too! I'm a bit flummoxed because I think of Massachusetts as one of the saner and more competent states (grading on a curve, to be sure). I did see some stuff the other day arguing that as a group red states have been more effective at getting people vaccinated than blue states, and theorizing that blue states are getting more tripped up on 'fairness' in vaccination priority, thereby creating lots of mini-categories on vaccination priority, which leads to complexity and to wasted vaccination doses (because the vaccinators can't line up enough people in the current 'priority' group).

[Isgrimnur]

I hereby award noxiousdog one BAM.

[malchior]

I've been wondering about that too! I'm a bit flummoxed because I think of Massachusetts as one of the saner and more competent states (grading on a curve, to be sure). I did see some stuff the other day arguing that as a group red states have been more effective at getting people vaccinated than blue states, and theorizing that blue states are getting more tripped up on 'fairness' in vaccination priority, thereby creating lots of mini-categories on vaccination priority, which leads to complexity and to wasted vaccination doses (because the vaccinators can't line up enough people in the current 'priority' group).

I think this is part of it. Blue state governments also just tend to have more bureaucratic bulk and that leads to analysis paralysis. They also are higher density which I expect impacts the ability to distribute.

I feel like I have a decent grip on NJ/NY at a high level. The bureaucracies are dysfunctional spiderwebs with unclear and overlapping responsibilities that drive inefficiency in good times. In bad times, they just break as the turf wars kick in. Then you have Cuomo in NY essentially running over his health officials and DeBlasio being just terrible all around. Murphy in NJ is a poor administrator in general as well. NJ's vaccine registration process is fragmented, opaque, and it is impossible to get a status. His administration deserves a lot of scrutiny for how that happened. It still feels like they were extremely unprepared for this effort.

[Defiant]

FYI: we're up to an average of 1.53 million doses administered per day over the last week. Hopefully, that goes up even further this week, as pharmacies start administrating them.

[Defiant]

https://twitter.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1 ... 1531111427

"We're going to run out of demand sooner than we think. At some point in March and certainly by the end of March we're going to have to make this generally available ... everyone is going to be able to go online and get an appointment sooner than we think," says @ScottGottliebMD.

[hitbyambulance]

i can see this happening, but that's also sooner than i estimated

[YellowKing]

I do think there will be a tipping point where those hesitant to get the vaccine start to cave. It's one thing to refuse some shadowy unknown vaccine. Quite another to refuse the vaccine that all of your co-workers, friends, and family got with no ill effects. One that doesn't require red tape and frantic online sign-ups, but can be had just by walking into the CVS down the street.

There will obviously be hold-outs as there are with any vaccine, and I would expect that percentage will be a lot higher than for something like the flu shot. But I still think snapshots of "will you/won't you take the vaccine?" are just snapshots and will continue to trend positively as the vaccine becomes more available.

[El Guapo]

Found out that Massachusetts is now apparently allowing people accompanying 75+ people getting vaccinated to get vaccinated with them. Since my mother still needs to get vaccinated, this is a possible way for me to get vaccinated sooner rather than later. Though depending what constitutes "accompanying" (could I meet my parents outside the site and then walk in together?) there is a semi-ironic risk that my accompanying would be an additional non-household contact en route to being vaccinated.

[$iljanus]

Found out that Massachusetts is now apparently allowing people accompanying 75+ people getting vaccinated to get vaccinated with them. Since my mother still needs to get vaccinated, this is a possible way for me to get vaccinated sooner rather than later. Though depending what constitutes "accompanying" (could I meet my parents outside the site and then walk in together?) there is a semi-ironic risk that my accompanying would be an additional non-household contact en route to being vaccinated.

From the Mass.gov website:

Beginning Thursday, February 11, individuals accompanying a 75+ resident to their vaccination appointment at 1 of 4 mass vaccination locations may make an appointment to also be vaccinated at the same location on the same day.

Caregivers may begin booking appointments the morning of Thursday, February 11th.
53,000 appointments will be added to mass vaccination locations mid-morning on Thursday, February 11th. Mass vaccination locations include the vaccination site at Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park, the DoubleTree in Danvers, and the Eastfield Mall in Springfield.

Only one caregiver is permitted to schedule an appointment with each 75+ resident.
If a 75+ resident already has their first appointment booked, caregivers can schedule an appointment to receive their first dose when they accompany for the second dose appointment.
How to schedule a caregiver appointment for 75+ residents

Use the mass vaccination location’s scheduling tool to book a second appointment at the time or around the time of the 75+ resident’s appointment.
Vaccination locations will make every effort to take both individuals together to reduce wait time, even if their appointment times are not at the same time.
Caregivers will need to attest that they are accompanying a 75+ resident to be vaccinated. Learn more about preparing for your appointment.

Good luck! Was joking to my wife that if our elderly neighbors still lived next door we could’ve used them to score a vaccine.

[Smoove_B]

I've mentioned before just how ridiculous it is in NJ. Well like a month after opening up the vaccination process to everyone, the State realized that senior citizens aren't all that computer savvy and maybe need some assistance in registering. To help, they set up a phone number to let them call in and have someone register them via telephone, setting them up with an appointment at a site that's convenient for them.

Well, today they had to close the phone registration system for seniors because they were double, triple and quadruple booking them. Like everyone else, enough seniors were calling multiple times and registering at numerous locations to try and guarantee they'd get a shot. Well, now these sites are dealing with no-show seniors because they just end up going to the first one that tells them a slot is available. You would think the system being run by the state would have stopped this from happening as soon as they provided a name or some other unique identifier to register multiple times, but nope.

So now they're going to audit the system and try to clean up the double-booked people.Not sure when it's opening again.

Cluster. F.

[malchior]

So now they're going to audit the system and try to clean up the double-booked people.Not sure when it's opening again.

Cluster. F.

In typical Murphy 'the buck stops somewhere else' fashion, he is blaming the 'vendor'. Give me a break.

[Defiant]

A new report highlights the hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths in the U.S. under former President Donald Trump, noting that some 40 percent of COVID-19 pandemic deaths in 2020 would have been averted if America's mortality rate was equivalent to other wealthy peer nations.

The report—published Thursday in one of the world's oldest and best-known medical journals The Lancet—explains that even before the pandemic, the U.S. saw 461,000 unnecessary deaths in 2018 when compared to the death rates in other G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom). Comparing the U.S. COVID-19 mortality rate to this peer group, the U.S. would have seen 40 percent fewer deaths in 2020 if its mortality rate was comparable.

https://www.newsweek.com/40-percent-us- ... rt-1568403

[Lorini]

What's happening here in LA county is that I got multiple vaccination site requests to set up an appointment. I got my first vaccination at Pomona Fairplex, where they said I would get my second vaccination. Then I got an email saying that my second vaccination would be at The Forum in Inglewood, so I made my second vaccination appointment there. Then I got an email saying I should make my second vaccination appointment at Pomona Fairplex again. So I made a vaccination appointment at both places because ~confusing as shit. So now I'm going to cancel the vaccination appointment at The Forum and hope that the Pomona Fairplex one is actually made.

We're going in today to Pomona for our second dose so we shall see...

[Daehawk]

Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. banned from Instagram

Asshole moron.

"We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines," a spokesperson for Facebook, who owns the photo-sharing platform, confirmed in a statement to The Hill.

Kennedy has been a longtime anti-vaccine activist and is the founder of the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccination group. He has regularly backed discredited connections between vaccines and autism in children.

Kennedy’s Facebook page remained up as of Thursday morning. His most recent posts included posts from the nonprofit criticizing an HPV vaccine, Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines and more.

[Smoove_B]

My 70-something parents received their first shot in NJ today. Even though I've personally run vaccination clinics (for humans and animals, no less), my dad had to explain to me how the entire process works. Parents, right?

In other news, I missed that Dr. Fauci believes vaccines will be available for 1st graders by September.

“We’re in the process of starting clinical trials in what we call age de-escalation, where you do a clinical trial with people 16 to 12, then 12 to 9, then 9 to 6,” Fauci said. When asked what was the youngest age group that might be authorized for the vaccine by September, he said, “I would think by the time we get to school opening, we likely will be able to get people who come into the first grade.”

Why do we need to vaccinate kids?

In addition to restoring stability to the education system and parents’ work schedules and keeping kids and those around them safe, vaccinating children is essential to helping the country, as a whole, reach herd immunity and decrease the threat of new variants.

Otherwise, “we’re going to have tens of millions of individuals in our communities that are able to maintain the virus. And when that happens, what that allows is for these unusual variants to emerge that may have the ability to evade our immunity,” said Dr. Buddy Creech, associate professor of pediatrics and director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program.

I hope Fauci is right with his prediction, but I fear the number of kids (arbitrarily picking the age of 16) that actually have parents that will give them this is going to be really, really low.

[malchior]

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1359986317703135236

[ImLawBoy]

Chicago has included parents of medically fragile children in group 1B, so now it's just a matter of actually finding a vaccine. I'm not confident it will be soon, but I'm going to check regularly.

[LordMortis]

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1359986317703135236

I am hopeful from having heard this. We'll see. That makes it sound like we'll have more shots than arms before the end of April, while that would be a waste, it would be a good waste to have, I guess. I just don't have faith, given the distribution in the first two months. Fortunately, they don't need my faith to keep moving forward.

[Isgrimnur]

Chicago has included parents of medically fragile children in group 1B, so now it's just a matter of actually finding a vaccine. I'm not confident it will be soon, but I'm going to check regularly.

[malchior]

My 70-something parents received their first shot in NJ today. Even though I've personally run vaccination clinics (for humans and animals, no less), my dad had to explain to me how the entire process works. Parents, right?

Believe it or not the wife and I got the secret handshake and got our shots too last night. And by secret handshake I mean my wife joined a hundred social media groups like she was hunting a PS5 and she found the magic link for registering for the Meadowlands megasite.

I took some mental notes about some clear 'muda' in the process that was frankly puzzling and I am skeptical that they can get the volume up if they need to. The place was a bit of a ghost town and it was pretty inefficient at light load. The bottleneck *obviously* being the registration process. It is a slow line into the registration, once you're sprung from registration, then you're immediately in a chair to get a vaccine. The output from registration is obviously is mismatched with the input to the vaccination delivery process. Meaning 40-50% empty vaccine chairs but 100% full registration chairs. The throughput in registration is a problem. I had done an "e-check in" where I entered all my relevant information and e-signed the appropriate legal notices. I was asked to provide much of that information on-site. She asked for my ID, didn't take it - it just sat on the table - then spent time asking me to validate my DOB and Address while I was looking down at my ID. I had to restrain myself from picking up my ID up in front of face and just read off it (just kidding here). She never actually looked at the ID. Why did I produce it? It's pure waste when throughput is the key here.

In a spot of irony while we were sitting there I got a text. As some background, weeks ago we registered with the Edison megasite. When we registered we received no feedback. No email/text confirmation at all. It just went into a black box and I was like...I guess we are registered. Anyway, while sitting in the watch room after the vaccination my wife and I got confirmation that we were in the queue for the Edison megasite. Did they not process registrations for 3-4 weeks? Who knows. I have no way of 'de-registering there' so hopefully we aren't going to hold a spot that could go to someone else. It really feels like a complete shit show.

[ImLawBoy]

Chicago has included parents of medically fragile children in group 1B, so now it's just a matter of actually finding a vaccine. I'm not confident it will be soon, but I'm going to check regularly.

Chicago is distinct from Illinois for vaccination purposes. Here are the phases for Chicago, and they include the following in 1B:

Parents, including foster parents, and other primary caregivers of medically fragile children or adults who live at home but require a level of ongoing medical care typically provided by a rehabilitation hospital or skilled nursing facility

You'll also note that the CVS for Chicago shows as fully booked. Same with just about everything else I've seen. I'm planning on refreshing stuff at midnight to see if the systems open up new dates automatically.

[Smoove_B]

Who knows. I have no way of 'de-registering there' so hopefully we aren't going to hold a spot that could go to someone else. It really feels like a complete shit show.

I honestly don't know. I would hope you'll get notified and given the opportunity to tell them you don't need it. But it won't surprise me if you don't ever hear from the state ever again.

My unofficial observation is that the giant mega sites in the more populated counties (Morris, Bergen, etc...) are being run by a conglomerate of individuals, mainly from the larger hospital systems. These teams have zero experience in running large scale vaccination clinics and I've heard from more than one person these large county megasites are a nightmare.

In contrast my county mega site tucked away in rural NJ is being run mainly by locals - people in county government, emergency squads, etc... These people have experience in running vaccination clinics and added with the smaller scale, seem to be doing a much better job. My parents were through the whole process in 30 minutes (including the 15 minute wait after being vaccinated). The last person I spoke to for the Morris County site had to wait 3 hours after arriving at their appointed time.

My point here is that for unknown reasons once again the state seems to have shifted the burden of providing these vaccines to organizations that little to no experience in dealing with the process (hospitals) and corporate agencies that aren't primary involved in mass vaccination delivery (pharmacy chains). They don't know how to deal with the public, they don't know how to deal with questions and they can't handle surge volume.

It's a goddamn shame.

[malchior]

Who knows. I have no way of 'de-registering there' so hopefully we aren't going to hold a spot that could go to someone else. It really feels like a complete shit show.

I honestly don't know. I would hope you'll get notified and given the opportunity to tell them you don't need it. But it won't surprise me if you don't ever hear from the state ever again.

My unofficial observation is that the giant mega sites in the more populated counties (Morris, Bergen, etc...) are being run by a conglomerate of individuals, mainly from the larger hospital systems. These teams have zero experience in running large scale vaccination clinics and I've heard from more than one person these large county megasites are a nightmare.

Just to expand, I saw some really, really dumb elements. They are using the race track betting center at the Meadowlands. They have people park and then walk into the building. There is a large wide uphill ramp into that building. It is relatively steep so they have two regular Army soldiers with a scooter that they use to move older/heavier people up the ramp like a 'red cap' at the airport. Once you are the top of the ramp they have everyone going into manual pull doors and have locked down the automatic door. I wondered why for a moment and then saw why. The doors from outside go to an empty space and then a second set of doors. They had stationed a desk right in front of the 2nd automatic door. So they locked the doors to keep people from streaming to the second automatic door blocked by the desk. What is happening at that desk? It is an information desk. Why is it positioned right in front of the automatic doors? My consultant brain was firing on all cylinder but all I saw was stacked inefficiencies everywhere. They got what I assume are the basics right. The floor is marked out in 6 foot intervals (even on that ramp). The signage is relatively clear but is all branded by the hospital system which just left a sour taste in my mouth. It screamed 'Remember to drink your ovaltine' to me.

In contrast my county mega site tucked away in rural NJ is being run mainly by locals - people in county government, emergency squads, etc... These people have experience in running vaccination clinics and added with the smaller scale, seem to be doing a much better job. My parents were through the whole process in 30 minutes (including the 15 minute wait after being vaccinated). The last person I spoke to for the Morris County site had to wait 3 hours after arriving at their appointed time.

My appointment was at 2:30 and hers was 4:30. They don't care as long as its the same day. That makes some sense on one hand if the supply is allocated daily. This breaks down a little for me because they have an 'unadvertised' on-call queue. They'll take people if someone doesn't show up for their appointment. I was scheduled for the follow up at 8 in the morning and my wife at 2:30 because we were being handled separately. Both registration people reinforced that it didn't matter as long as it was same day. So how are the 'on-call' people being handled? That didn't match up to me. In any case, we got there at 2:30 on the dot and were out at 3:30 and as I said it was a ghost town. That's not great.

My point here is that for unknown reasons once again the state seems to have shifted the burden of providing these vaccines to organizations that little to no experience in dealing with the process (hospitals) and corporate agencies that aren't primary involved in mass vaccination delivery (pharmacy chains). They don't know how to deal with the public, they don't know how to deal with questions and they can't handle surge volume.

Right. That's why I related the 'Ovaltine' bit because it feels like a goddamn commercial in the place. I'm not anti-commercial by any means but it really felt Jersey 'corrupt' which shouldn't surprise me but people are just so used to it that it goes unnoticed now. Gross.

It's a goddamn shame.

Yup.

[hitbyambulance]

we really should be shipping out vaccines to healthcare workers in other countries - don't think that would go over well with the US populace, however.

[Lorini]

we really should be shipping out vaccines to healthcare workers in other countries - don't think that would go over well with the US populace, however.

Which countries?

[Daehawk]

Teachers really should be getting vaccinated. Also bus drivers.

[ImLawBoy]

Teachers really should be getting vaccinated. Also bus drivers.

I think they're in the current group for most if not all areas. I know they are in Chicago.

[hitbyambulance]

we really should be shipping out vaccines to healthcare workers in other countries - don't think that would go over well with the US populace, however.

Which countries?

good place to start: https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4809

[Lorini]

we really should be shipping out vaccines to healthcare workers in other countries - don't think that would go over well with the US populace, however.

I understand where you are coming from, but shipping vaccines to those countries will simply result in the wealthy getting them and not the poor people getting them which is already the problem. And regarding the intellectual property, not sure that many countries have the ability to manufacture either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. There may be other vaccines in the pipeline which will be easier to manufacture, especially the Johnson one since it doesn't need a ridiculous temperature.

And Trump is no longer president even if his order meant something in the first place. I have not heard Biden say the same.

E: The US taxpayers funded the development of the Moderna vaccine, so I don't have an issue with the US taxpayers getting the vaccine as a priority. The IP doesn't apply to the US because of that, btw. That doesn't mean anyone can make them but it does mean that the US has a free license to manufacture the vaccine.

[Smoove_B]

The global vaccination issue is absolutely a hot topic right now. While any country is at risk, we're all at risk. Ignoring everything else, it's in our best interest as human beings to vaccinate as many humans as possible. There's already vaccination inequity happening in the US and its being seen worldwide as well. The best we can do is flood the globe with vaccine (imho) to make sure demand doesn't create more problems. This is also why it was so important for us to rejoin the WHO and to do what we can to make sure vaccines are reaching historically underserved parts of the globe. I think I mentioned it a few weeks ago, but the reports I'd seen suggest that there will parts of Africa unvaccinated through 2024; that's unacceptable.

[Daehawk]

historically undeserved parts of the globe

Maybe you meant underserved.

[Smoove_B]

Dammit autocorrect! Yes.

[Lorini]

The global vaccination issue is absolutely a hot topic right now. While any country is at risk, we're all at risk. Ignoring everything else, it's in our best interest as human beings to vaccinate as many humans as possible. There's already vaccination inequity happening in the US and its being seen worldwide as well. The best we can do is flood the globe with vaccine (imho) to make sure demand doesn't create more problems. This is also why it was so important for us to rejoin the WHO and to do what we can to make sure vaccines are reaching historically underserved parts of the globe. I think I mentioned it a few weeks ago, but the reports I'd seen suggest that there will parts of Africa unvaccinated through 2024; that's unacceptable.

The issue is though Smoove and hitbyambulance is how is that going to happen? Poor nations do not have the infrastructure to handle the rigid requirements of either the Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna vaccine, I think we can agree on that. The good news is that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine apparently will be way easier to use and I hope they use it vs the way more challenging ones. As we can see all the issues we as a wealthy first world country are having in getting this vaccine to people, it's easy to see that trying to do what we can't even do and the country is poor as well is going to be nearly impossible. Not to mention that many of these countries are poor because of corrupt governments, and that some of these countries that people that the government or the culture have marginalized, making it very difficult for them to even get food, not to mention vaccines. The US on its own certainly can't solve this issue, and I doubt seriously that WHO will be able to get the vaccine to the poorest and most marginalized. Perhaps the UN can step in with peacekeeping forces?

I have no issue with working with WHO and the UN, I do have issue with waving a magic wand of money and then all of a sudden the world will be vaccinated (not saying that either of you are saying that directly but I do want you to consider the difficulties).

[malchior]

@Smoove_B - I just got another WTF email from the state. I registered for the vaccine registration system the day it became available and like the Edison megasite it felt like it went into a black hole. Last night at midnight I got confirmation I was registered. I'm calling my state senator on Monday because this is atrocious and IMO needs an investigation. But I also have a strong feeling it won't happen.

[Smoove_B]

I have no issue with working with WHO and the UN, I do have issue with waving a magic wand of money and then all of a sudden the world will be vaccinated (not saying that either of you are saying that directly but I do want you to consider the difficulties).

Global health is outside my wheelhouse, but I absolutely acknowledge it needs to be more than tossing money and hoping for the best. We (collectively) were so damn close with eradicating polio, but COVID-19 delayed progress. And yes, the political environment of Afghanistan isn't helping. Also, that we used military assets posing as vaccinators to try and find Bin Laden was beyond ill-advised.

It's absolutely going to take an active presence (i.e. not just suitcases of money) to get people vaccinated and without question the J&J offering is going to be part of that for the reasons you mentioned. I think the core point is that we have to do *something* - we can't just vaccinate Americans and Europeans and think then that this magically ends. We have to collectively acknowledge that we (humans) have a collective responsibility to make sure all humans have access.

@Smoove_B - I just got another WTF email from the state. I registered for the vaccine registration system the day it became available and like the Edison megasite it felt like it went into a black hole. Last night at midnight I got confirmation I was registered. I'm calling my state senator on Monday because this is atrocious and IMO needs an investigation. But I also have a strong feeling it won't happen.

It boggles the mind. None of the systems are talking to each other and I saw yesterday the vendor that's doing phone registrations for seniors is based in Tennessee. It's not even a local program; it's completely outsourced. I know I shouldn't be surprised that the state has no ability to set up a phone bank, but by my count there has to be over a dozen unique vaccination registration systems at this point (State, numerous county sites (but not all), private pharmacies, hospital systems). On what planet did someone think having multiple data bases controlled by various organizations was going to work out? It's like they wanted it to be complete chaos. I might have enough here to write a PhD thesis...

[malchior]

On what planet did someone think having multiple data bases controlled by various organizations was going to work out? It's like they wanted it to be complete chaos. I might have enough here to write a PhD thesis...

I bet that's true. It'll be hard not to just straight out say 'they are incompetent' in the thesis statement but there are creative ways to do it.