photo: PDA’s Dr. Bill Honigman, MFA Rally at AMA Convention in Chicago, 2019.
Pictured left to right, Jim Carpenter, Dr Bill’s wife Carrie, Dr. Bill and Jim’s friend.

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

COVID & MFA REALITY CHECK

1,012,644 Total COVID19 deaths in US to date*

405,057 US COVID19 deaths prevented with MFA**

*Harvard University Daily Tracker

**Lancet Comm, Feb 2021

This is now our 124th consecutive weekly PDA Online Town Hall since #COVID19 first hit the U.S. in the spring of 2020, and today, in the dark shadow of the historic and tragic U.S. Supreme Court decision this week to overturn decades of legal protection for the health, safety, and security of pregnant people in Roe v. Wade, we must report that the United States continues as the world’s leader in deaths due to the pandemic of COVID19. 

The Harvard University tracking center today reports 1,012,644 COVID19 U.S. total deaths to date.  And therefore, it is estimated now that some 405,057 of those who have died in the U.S. from COVID19 would still be alive today if we had a #SinglePayer expanded and improved #MedicareForAll (MFA) system of Universal Healthcare in place to deal with this crisis.  

Once again, that’s about 1,000 more Americans who died unnecessarily from COVID19 just this week, because our corrupt pay-to-play political system supports the greed of the status quo, not the immediate needs of we the people.

The U.S. currently is believed to be only 67.4% fully vaccinated.  That puts us ranked in the world this week once again at No. 64 – still just behind Mozambique and Sri Lanka, and still just ahead of El Salvador and Belarus.  Not exactly the company you might expect us to be keeping on international public health standards.

And Wyoming is still holding the lead for worst state in COVID vaccination rate, again this week at only 51.3%, falling further behind the world’s average which increased to 67.4% of global population fully vaxxed.  

So, this week, with the world COVID19 death toll now over 6.3 million, its average for COVID19 vaccination rate officially reached parity with that of the wealthiest nation on earth, the United States of America, which even with all of its wealth and resources can only muster a “C-grade” in this measure of concern for its population.  That is just pathetic.  And it will get even worse yet in coming weeks as the U.S. lags further behind in this most basic societal function.

The plain and simple truth is that Republicans and status quo Democrats are killing us in America.  Whether by depriving us of all manner of medical treatments in the face of this public health emergency, or by throwing us back to a public health nightmare that we thought was decades behind us, these purveyors of political power and greed are the ones who clearly don’t value life, or the liberties and securities that we would have if they did.

This week began COVID19 vaccines for children aged 5 and under, but according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, less than one-in-five families plan to get their small children vaccinated right away.  This, despite the fact that more than 20,000 children in this age group have required hospitalization from COVID to date, with the majority of those children having had no predisposing medical conditions whatsoever, and a total of 442 deaths due to COVID19 in this age group so far, and more ongoing with new more contagious variants expected as we look ahead to the challenges for these children in the fall and winter months to come.

So, what is the cure for this vaccine hesitancy in families of the U.S. that could save the lives of these innocents and so many others?  

Well, according to Jen Kates, senior VP and director of global health and HIV policy at Kaiser Family Foundation, “It comes down to the trusted messengers and as many access points as you can provide.” 

And, according to Dr. Kristina Bryant, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist and professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital University of Louisville KY, “A recommendation from a pediatrician or trusted primary care provider is one of the most important factors in the parents’ decision to immunize their child against a variety of diseases.”

Which is why we must say, onward to unlimited access to trusted sources of medical information, and to full abortion care.  And onward to Medicare for All.

Thank you, and please stay healthy.

RSVP HERE for the next PDA Sunday Progressive Town Hall, Sundays, 4pm ET.

Watch the previous PDA Healthcare Emergency Town Halls here.

Watch the previous PDA Sunday Progressive Town Halls here.