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

COVID & MFA REALITY CHECK

970,041 Total COVID19 deaths in US to date*

388,016 US COVID19 deaths prevented with MFA**

*Harvard University Daily Tracker

**Lancet Comm, Feb 2021

This is our 110th weekly PDA Online Town Hall since #COVID19 first hit the US in the spring of 2020, and today we must report once again that the United States continues as the world’s leader in epic poor responses to the global public health crisis.

A tragic total of 970,041 have now died from COVID19 in the U.S., and even more tragically that means that an estimated 388,016 of those lost Americans would be alive today, if we had the political will to have what a clear majority of the American people want, a #SinglePayer expanded and improved #MedicareForAll system in place to deal with exactly this type of public health need as well as our day-to-day Healthcare needs. 

The U.S. currently is thought to be only 66.1% fully vaccinated.  That puts us ranked still this week at No. 61 in the world — just behind El Salvador, and just ahead of Monaco.  And Alabama remains the worst state in the nation, still at only 50.5% fully vaccinated, which is shamefully still 6+ points behind the global average of an estimated 57%.

This week saw continued declining infections and hospitalizations here in the U.S., which meant relaxed public restrictions.  But wary observers have noted a surge of new cases of Omicron in places like Europe, Africa, and the Western Pacific.  This is impacting more severely especially the unvaccinated, and remains to be seen if it will result in a return of public health restrictions, if and when it hits our shores.

So how can we expect to deal with yet another surge?  The operating concept now appears to be implementing those measures that reduce risk while at the same time avoid negative effects in doing so.  As Professor Elizabeth Howe Bradley, President of Vassar College recently said, “If you really go for minimizing the risk, you’re going to have unintended consequences to people’s physical health, their mental health, and their social health.” 

Be that as it may, it seems quite another thing, and a very short sighted thing at that, to do as Congress did this week, to cut substantially COVID19 relief funding, which is now expected to mean even less available anti-viral treatments and boosters, especially for communities of particular need, cutting financial support for universal testing, and cutting back on commitments to continued global vaccination, which is still very much needed in especially the global south, that will suppress formation of yet more mutations and variants of this virus.  This is exactly wrong-headed and opposite from the direction needed to prevent and treat, not only this pandemic, but those predicted that are headed our way due to climate change.

The bottom line, once again, is for this country, or any country, to be fully prepared, and not fail miserably in its response to a national public health crisis such as this, we need a national public health system that allows the public to prioritize and allocate the resources needed for mitigation, as well as to reduce medical risk by optimizing care for chronic medical conditions that put us all at risk.  

And for that we need to get the moneychangers out of the temple, and put control of our Healthcare in the hands of we the people, with nothing less than Single Payer expanded and improved Medicare for All.

Thanks as always, and onward!

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Watch the previous PDA Sunday Progressive Town Halls here.

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