Thursday, February 04, 2021

 

PMT: The Vaccine Vagaries

 

A story in yesterday's Washington Post did a good job of explaining how some states are doing better at distributing COVID vaccines than others: The key seems to be keeping it simple and pro-actively trying to reach people instead of relying on complicated online registration schemes or dozens of providers each doing their own thing. 

Minnesota is doing a pretty bad job of it. There is a fair amount of confusion about where to get shots and when, and we have been in the bottom 10 states in terms of getting inoculations into arms. It's disappointing, given the "good government" reputation of the state and the wealth of health industry resources (including the Mayo Clinic, which is huge, and a large number of health-care companies). 

And then there is the troubling issue of disparity.

Rich white people seem to be getting the shots more than anyone else. Yes, I know-- an eye-rolling surprise, that. But it is worse than our usual disparities because poor and minority communities see a disproportionate number of deaths, and what is at issue here isn't relative wealth or housing issues (which do matter) but actual life and death. 

National leadership on this is crucial. Donald Trump utterly failed at making this a true national effort-- but now it is the Biden administration's challenge, and we will see if they can do better. I was expecting (and hoping) that the feds would nationalize the effort, but there is little sign of that happening. 

About 450,000 Americans have died of COVID, a number that seemed unimaginable ten months ago. But here we are. And those in authority now bear the burden they sought: to address the worst public health crisis of our time.


# posted by Mark Osler @ 1:00 AM
Comments:
It is sad that Trump cannot be charged for deaths resulting from his bumbling (non) approach to getting the vaccine into arms, not just into states.

# posted by Blogger Arce : 10:48 AM
 
I'm pretty sure we don't want mere incompetence by the president to be chargeable in a case like this. It would be a terrible precedent.
# posted by Blogger Mark Osler : 11:41 AM
 
So this is interesting. We just saw a report this morning about SW VA and the lack of vaccines. It turns out that they're getting about the number of vaccines that you'd expect, based on their population percentage. But they have a much higher proportion of people with lung conditions (due to mining and poverty) than the rest of VA. They've been instructed by the Governor that they should wait, because each region receives vaccine based on population. Should they receive more vaccine/capita than other "healthier" regions?

Just tossing it out there. I really don't have an answer.
# posted by Blogger Desiree : 2:25 PM
 
First, have John and Phyllis received a vaccine yet?

Disparities- you can not force someone to be vaccinated. That each have unique reasons as to why they are currently saying NO. Each person needs a one on one conversation.

My Mom will get her second jab tomorrow. But even that involved discussions. Some people are having a few days of 'discomfort' after vaccine so among themselves ralked about taking a Tylenol before the 2nd shot. I questioned her and asked her to speak to her doctor. Told to take sonething only as needed by doctor and the BCBS pharmacist who calls quarterly to make sure she is taking her medication properly.

So none of it is straightforward.
# posted by Blogger Christine : 4:56 PM
 
Sorry about the typos
# posted by Blogger Christine : 4:56 PM
 
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