By Dr. Bill Honigman, PDA Healthcare Human Rights, Coordinator – Progressive Democrats of America

This week worldwide reported new cases of #COVID19 rose by another 2.6 million, down slightly from last week’s rise.  And global deaths due to the pandemic are also slightly down from last weeks’ rise despite the Delta variant now wreaking havoc especially in the global southern hemisphere where it is now winter and where less than 2% of the population are now fully vaccinated.

Johannesburg South Africa and Sydney Australia are both seeing surges now, and both have now tightened public health measures as a result.

Meanwhile here in the US, public health authorities continue to advise aggressive vaccinations above all else, although some localities are now recommending reimposed masking while indoors.  At the very least, consideration of exposure to the unvaccinated or others at risk, such as children under 12 years old and the immunocompromised, should dictate common sense practices, which would include in areas of mass exposure such as mass transit facilities and mass indoor gatherings.

The Biden/Harris goal of having 70% of the US population with at least one dose of vaccine on board by July 4^th was only a few percentage points short of being achieved, but significant pockets of the unvaccinated now famously exist across the country.  These states who are as a consequence seriously at risk of significant outbreaks, including Missouri, Utah, and Arkansas, should have serious political discussions as a result in the election cycles coming up.

Wisconsin, in particular, should seriously consider the harm that their US Senator Ron Johnson is doing promoting destructive non-information, dissuading Wisconsinites from the vaccines out of fear of side effects that is clearly contrary to the published science showing the disease is much much worse than this very very safe treatment.

The bottom line is that while COVID19 vaccinations and their universal application in the US have greatly reduced the human loss and suffering in this country due to the pandemic, we continue to suffer and die due to not having public prioritization of Healthcare resources that would provide not just universal vaccinations but also universal testing, contact tracing, and universal treatment for all comorbid medical conditions that put all Americans at risk for worse outcomes from this disease, and those diseases and toxic exposures headed our way due to rising global temperatures.

According to Harvard University, COVID19 has now killed 604,727 Americans, and counting.  And according to the distinguished Lancet Commission Report published just this last February, of those who have died so far 241,890 would still be alive today if we had a #SinglePayer expanded and improved #MedicareForAll system in place to deal with this public health emergency, even now as it continues to wreak havoc here and elsewhere.

So, where are the leaders who profess to be fighting on behalf of the powerless and those who need their help most?  Where are the fixes that science so clearly has put before us showing what needs to be done next, or ignored at our own peril?  And what actions need to be taken next to bring all of this to the forefront of the national and international consciousness, to bring about the needed change, now, before too much more damage is done to too many?

The answers must come from inside each of us.

Onward!

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