All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (3 Viewers)

[Maxp]

I fear we are really going to be in a bad place due to the obvious cuts to the federal agencies that deal with infectious disease, but also the negative effect the Affordable Care act has had on non urban hospitals. Our front line defenses are ineffectual and our ability to treat the populous is probably at an all time low. Factor in the cost of healthcare and I can see our system crashing. What do you think about the politics of this virus?

 

[zztop]

I had a feeling this would happen

‘Packed us together like sardines’: Guard deployed to Capitol struggles to contain Covid

Hundreds of Guard members who poured into Washington after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol have tested positive for Covid-19 or are quarantining in nearby hotels.

www.politico.com

 

[wardorican]

I had a feeling this would happen

‘Packed us together like sardines’: Guard deployed to Capitol struggles to contain Covid

Hundreds of Guard members who poured into Washington after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol have tested positive for Covid-19 or are quarantining in nearby hotels.

www.politico.com

Hope they all recover quickly.

Sounds like they are working on a better plan to keep them outside, separated, etc better.

 

[wardorican]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/22/biden-vaccine-mass-sites/

FEMA unleashed.

Part of me is excited, the other part is skeptical.

Up to 100 sites run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency could begin offering coronavirus vaccine within the next month, part of a strategy that would dramatically expand the federal government’s role in the effort to corral the pandemic.

The plan, which was announced by President Biden on his first day in office, is already taking shape in the form of a draft “Concept of Operations,” which was obtained by The Washington Post. The document envisions FEMA, which previously had more of a piecemeal role in pandemic response, fully unleashed.
Its mission will be to “provide federal support to existing or new community vaccination centers and mobile clinics across the country.”

Enlisting FEMA, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, is among the clearest signals that Biden intends to involve the federal government more directly in the administration of vaccines, instead of leaving the final step of the massive effort to state and local authorities.

 

[Taurus]

So...which one is he?

Diplomacy.
He's dancing like Fred Astaire in order to tangentially approach his point (that being how the Trump Administration completely screwed the pooch) without risking offense.

A salesman wouldn't bother, he'd be driving that point home like a nail.

It's the trait that won Trump the election and kept so many of his adherents on his side despite everything. Dude speaks in simple, direct sentences. He uses emotionally laden terms like a salesman. Were the positions reversed, Trump would be absolutely trashing the previous Administration. "That bunch of morons had absolutely no goram plan at all!," would be the mildest of his responses.
That's how "He tells it like it is." and "He's told thirty thousand lies and counting," can coexist.

 

[Taurus]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/22/biden-vaccine-mass-sites/

FEMA unleashed.

Part of me is excited, the other part is skeptical.

Considering every dose is a 20 minute minimum, we need to decentralize the vaccination effort as much as possible. To immunize 200 million people, we're going to need it available in every hospital, clinic, pharmacy, dentist office, school, field, farmhouse and outhouse in America.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Considering every dose is a 20 minute minimum, we need to decentralize the vaccination effort as much as possible. To immunize 200 million people, we're going to need it available in every hospital, clinic, pharmacy, dentist office, school, field, farmhouse and outhouse in America.

That’s a lofty target. That’s akin to Luke saying he can eat 50 eggs.

 

[DaveXA]

Considering every dose is a 20 minute minimum, we need to decentralize the vaccination effort as much as possible. To immunize 200 million people, we're going to need it available in every hospital, clinic, pharmacy, dentist office, school, field, farmhouse and outhouse in America.

Yeah, I tend to think if FEMA is an add on to what is already in place for distribution, then great. But we gotta use every means of distribution out there, whether it's the Amazons and Walmarts of the world, or the health care system or whatever, getting the vaccine out as quickly as possible means we can get back to a normally functioning economy that much sooner. It does no one any good if there are bottlenecks in distribution and pallets of vaccines are sitting waiting to be used, or gets ruined by nitwit or accidental loss while in storage.

 

[The moose]

That’s a lofty target. That’s akin to Luke saying he can 50 eggs.

Greatest movie ever.

Yes I would rather see health care workers spread out like Jesus on a table from exhaustion that the fight they have been doing.

The real issues are gonna be that anti mask crowd and getting them to buy in.

I am confident that we working together can make it happen.

 

[wardorican]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/01/22/biden-childtaxcredit-stimulus/

Senior Democratic lawmakers are moving to fulfill President Biden’s desire to expand the child tax credit by drafting legislation that would direct the IRS to send recurring monthly payments to tens of millions of American families, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share knowledge of the internal discussion.

Under one draft of the plan being discussed, the IRS would be tasked with depositing checks worth $300 every month per child younger than 6, as well as $250 every month per child age 6 to 17. That would amount to $3,600 over the course of the year for young children, as well as $3,000 a year for older children, the officials said.
Unlike with the stimulus checks, the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers are hoping to make these child benefits a permanent government program that would continue in future years, according to three senior Democratic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. The current proposal calls only for the expanded benefit to be enacted for one year, after which Democrats widely hope political pressure will force Congress to extend them. The benefit would be phased out for affluent Americans, though the precise income level has not been determined.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Our first day of distribution was absolutely chasos because no true guidance was provided from the feds nor the state, especially after the state delivered more than two times the doses we requested. We have a smooth operation now, but the first few days had more than enough people ready to jump into the Mississippi. Government from top to bottom has to take a bigger role in making this work. Hopefully Biden and tram makes it happen.

I will say this. I'm more than happy to be in the red state of Louisiana with JBE, than the idiocy that is Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida.

 

[MT15]

I actually had less soreness from my second Pfizer shot than the first, and a slightly sore arm was my only side effect. Now if they will only get to my husband, we will go out for a really nice steak dinner. Been since a year ago in March we last sat inside at a restaurant and had a nice meal.

I think I just saw a tweet tonight saying we do have sufficient supplies of vaccine, we just need to get them distributed and injected.

I still think doing the shots in huge parking lots, where you drive through, get your shot, then get a pager and go park for 15 minutes would be hugely efficient. Someone comes by your car after 15 minutes, makes sure you’re okay, you turn in your pager and you’re free to go. Be easier for the elderly also, at our hospital there’s a decent walk from the parking lot to the door to get vaccinated.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

I actually had less soreness from my second Pfizer shot than the first, and a slightly sore arm was my only side effect. Now if they will only get to my husband, we will go out for a really nice steak dinner. Been since a year ago in March we last sat inside at a restaurant and had a nice meal.

I think I just saw a tweet tonight saying we do have sufficient supplies of vaccine, we just need to get them distributed and injected.

I still think doing the shots in huge parking lots, where you drive through, get your shot, then get a pager and go park for 15 minutes would be hugely efficient. Someone comes by your car after 15 minutes, makes sure you’re okay, you turn in your pager and you’re free to go. Be easier for the elderly also, at our hospital there’s a decent walk from the parking lot to the door to get vaccinated.

This is exactly our set-up. Two days a week I serve as the people watcher going from car to car after 15 minutes. It works like a charm.

 

[wardorican]

Merck Discontinues Development of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates; Continues Development of Two Investigational Therapeutic Candidates - Merck.com

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the company is discontinuing development of its SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccine candidates, V590 and V591, and plans to focus its SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research strategy and production capabilities on advancing...

www.merck.com

Merck is out.

 

[wardorican]

Good news, is that we're turning the corner.

Bad news is that some states aren't.. they're turnt up.

This is all we have for good news...

The worst.. Look at those spikes..

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Out of nowhere, my organization just received another 500 doses for the community. I guess when you can inject over 3,000 doses in less than two weeks, the state takes notice.

 

[JRad]

Out of nowhere, my organization just received another 500 doses for the community. I guess when you can inject over 3,000 doses in less than two weeks, the state takes notice.

Heading your way...

 

[Booker]

Out of nowhere, my organization just received another 500 doses for the community. I guess when you can inject over 3,000 doses in less than two weeks, the state takes notice.

 

[wardorican]

I know a lot of you don't have a WaPo subscription ($29 for the first year, so I bit the bullet).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/25/deborah-birx-interview-trump-covid/

As the previous administration’s coronavirus response coordinator, Deborah Birx provided President Donald Trump with hard numbers to guide the fight against the pandemic. But all along, she said, Trump was receiving different statistics from someone else.

“Someone out there, or someone inside, was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president,” she said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I know what I sent up, and I know that what was in his hands was different.”
The 79-minute sit-down interview was Birx’s first since formally exiting her role advising the Trump administration. Birx told host Margaret Brennan that she “always” considered quitting her job, during which she alternately drew criticism from other scientists and Trump.

She said she will probably retire from her job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within weeks after helping the Biden administration with its transition.

I'll have to look for that interview video later.

I always tell the kids (and anyone considering working for the government, or a contractor) that you can cheat the government by being too expensive. But, don't ever lie to them. If you Lie to them, you will eventually get caught and punished harshly.

but when your government lies to you, that's sickening. Especially on something this huge. To ignore the people you put in charge of fighting the fight.